Since Independence Day (US) is coming up in a few days here are some related bargains...
Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free by John Ferling - $1.99
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No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies together was like getting "thirteen clocks to strike at once."
Other books have been written about the Declaration, but no author has traced the political journey from protest to Revolution with the narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes readers from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost.
At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls "a national resource."
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Seeds of Discontent: The Deep Roots of the American Revolution, 1650-1750 by J. Revell Carr - $1.99
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Popularly, the causes of the American Revolution are considered the Stamp Act and other repressive actions by the Crown against its colonies in the years following the French & Indian War. Some see the sources in the outcome of that war, when George III forbade settlement beyond the Alleghenies. J. Revell Carr takes a longer view, and in Seeds of Discontent, he locates the roots of the Revolution a century earlier. In the latter half of the 17th century, tensions between colonists and the Crown were strikingly similar, culminating in the Revolution of 1689. Though subsequent decades were relatively peaceful, the bitterness was not forgotten, and friction began to build throughout the 1720s and 30s, reaching a peak after the famed 1745 battle for Louisbourg, the seemingly impregnable French fortress in Nova Scotia. Won on England's behalf at great cost to the largely American-born strike force, it was given back to France two years later in return for French concessions in the Caribbean-an act that outraged politicians, citizens, and soldiers alike.
Bringing to life the two generations that inspired our Founding Fathers, Revell Carr illuminates an eventful century largely ignored by historians.
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The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon by John Ferling - $1.99
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Perhaps the most revered American of all, George Washington has long been considered a stoic leader who held himself above the fray of political infighting. What has gone unnoticed about the much-researched life of Washington is that he was in fact a consummate politician, as historian John Ferling shows in this revealing and provocative new book. As leader of the Continental Army, Washington's keen political savvy enabled him not only to outwit superior British forces, but--even more challenging--to manage the fractious and intrusive Continental Congress. Despite dire setbacks early in the war, Washington deftly outmaneuvered rival generals and defused dissent from officers below him, ending the war with the status of a national icon. His carefully burnished reputation allowed Washington, as president, to lead the country under the guise of non-partisanship for almost all of his eight years in office. Washington, Ferling argues, was not only one of America's most adroit politicians, he was easily the most successful of all time--so successful, in fact, that he is no longer thought of as having been political.
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A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin - $2.99
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We know--and love--the story of the American Revolution, from the Declaration of Independence to Cornwallis's defeat. But our first government was a disaster and the country was in a terrible crisis. So when a group of men traveled to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to save a nation in danger of collapse, they had no great expectations for the meeting that would make history. But all the ideas, arguments, and compromises led to a great thing: a constitution and a government were born that have surpassed the founders'
greatest hopes.
Revisiting all the original documents and using her deep knowledge of eighteenth-century history and politics, Carol Berkin takes a fresh look at the men who framed the Constitution, the issues they faced, and the times they lived in. Berkin transports the reader into the hearts and minds of the founders, exposing their fears and their limited expectations
of success.
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