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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
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Publisher's Summary
The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
This panoramic view of the conflict between England and America combines the political and the personal, giving the listener a vivid sense of how the colonists perceived the events of their struggle for independence, from the French and Indian War to “the shot heard round the world”, and the importance the colonists assigned to them.
Praised as “state of the art” and “the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship”, the four new volumes of the Oxford History of the United States – including The Glorious Cause – are narrated with engagingly casual warmth by Robert Fass, who previously read an earlier volume in the series, Empire of Liberty, by Gordon S. Wood.
Please note: The individual volumes of the series have not been published in historical order. The Glorious Cause is number III in The Oxford History of the United States.
What listeners say about The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Graeme Sutton
- 2023-04-25
Excellent Military and Political History
I got this book hoping for a) information about the early revolutionary period and it's lead-up and b) a detailed military history of the revolution and it delivered on both counts. The book starts out with a fairly brief summary view of the twelve colonies and the British State as of roughly the start of the Seven Years War and carrying into the 1760s.
Chapters 3 through 9 are an in-depth narrative of the various conflicts- largely over taxation- that led towards war with a detailed, blow-by-blow account of the conflicts in each colony. This part was very thorough though I found it slightly dry. The author is obviously partial towards the American side but the narrative presented is not one-sided and he doesn't shy away from portraying the nearly intractable problems the British faced in managing North America or the mob violence that was often practiced by the Americans.
Chapters 10 and 11 describe the opening steps of the war up to the Declaration of Independence. The roles of figures familiar as the Founding Fathers such as Adams, Washington, Franklin and Jefferson are covered but they are not overly focused on and the role of other figures whose fame has not survived as well but who were extremely important at the time is covered in detail. After Chapter 11 the book focuses almost entirely on the military history of the revolution and this is IMO the best part of the book- the story is well-told with a good balance of zoomed-out strategic analysis so you can keep track of what is going on with well-paced action packed descriptions of tactical combat. This is the kind of book that could get you into military history.
After Chapter 19 the blow-by-blow story of the revolutionary war pauses and we get two more general chapters: Chapter 19 'inside the campaigns' which describes the day to day experience of the war for soldiers on either side, as well as a history of the Continental Army's quartermasters and medical corps which was quite interesting. Chapter 20 'outside the campaigns' describes the effect of the war on the civilian population of the colonies. This is also the chapter that describes the experience of more vulnerable or exploited populations such as women, blacks, and indians. Regarding these topics the book doesn't shy away or attempt to white wash the role of slavery in american society and it makes several nods to the hypocrisy in an American cause that was fought, in the south, to defend a lifestyle based on chattel slavery. It also describes the rapacity of the colonists in their relationships with Indian tribes and the role that British efforts to restrain colonial expansion played in the lead-up to war. It addresses both of these topics but doesn't dwell on either or allow them to dominate the narrative.
After these two chapters the book returns to the narrative for Chapter 22 describing the Yorktown campaign and the peace talks before we return to the political realm with Chapter 23 and 24 describing the political developments of the 1780s and the movement for a stronger federation before Chapter 25 gives a blow-by-blow of the constitutional convention and the story climaxes with the struggle for the constitutions ratification.
Overall this book was money well-spent. I have read Alan Taylor's more recent book, 'American Revolutions' which covers roughly the same period and I found this to be much more detail oriented on both the political and military front and overall I felt I was left with a much better understanding of what had motivated the revolution and the military and political factors that had enabled it to defeat Great Britain. This book focused much less on issues of race or gender than I would expect from a book released more recently and IMO this was for the better but mileage will vary on this. In terms of the audio performance I found it perfectly good and I don't recall ever being knocked out of the narrative by some problem with the presentation.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lucas Arenson
- 2020-09-19
Not as good as the others in the series
Unlike the other books in the Oxford History of the United States series, this book is too focused on the high politics and diplomacy of the period. I see that this is the oldest book in the series, and it does feel that way; it is a rather old fashioned book all told. A shame, I hope a new edition is added to complete the series.
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