1776
David McCullough
Identification of Work The book 1776 is a book written by David McCullough. It was published in 2005, and is the eighth book that David McCullough has published. He lists all of his sources, which he and his research assistant gathered, which ranges from books about the American Revolution to newspapers to memoirs and diaries. Such thorough research shows his immense dedication and effort that he put towards the writing of this book.
Summary of the Main Ideas The purpose of this book was to educate and inform the reader of George Washington, and how the war would almost certainly have failed without him. It starts out with how Britain was reacting to the war at this time, including King George III’s thoughts on the matter (which, obviously, were very negative). Throughout the book, it explains the various war tactics that the commanders used. It ends the book with various people praising George Washington for his skill in commanding armies.
Critical Evaluation of Work
This author offered very few opinions, and what little opinions he did offer were based on hundreds of resources. The author uses an abundance of evidence and wrote with …show more content…
He goes at great lengths with the sources to demonstrate their characteristics and opinions. For instance, he mentions that, “Washington is said to have wept as he watched the tragedy [of the defeat at Fort Washington] unfold from across the river, and though this seems unlikely, given his imperturbability, he surely wept within his soul. He had faced ruin before, but never like this” (McCullough, 2005, p. 244). This quote alone tells a lot about Washington’s character. It shows that Washington is an exceptionally calm man on the outside, but still observes his faults and the horrors of war with great solemnity. McCullough did a fine job of telling us this, along with other passages of