A short but highly enjoyable listen, with accessible prose and heaps of military and political drama. If anything, I was disappointed that the story ended in the fall of 1776, as I wanted to hear what happened next!

This book delivers a lively narrative rather than a detailed political analysis of the summer of 1776, but I felt like Ellis provides a clear, if somewhat repetitive, account of how American and British political motivations played out in the battlefield and elsewhere. Am now keen to read more about revolutionary history (or at least see the film 1776, which I have unaccountably never watched). ( )

Ellis' thesis in this book is that 1776 is the key year in the story of the American Revolution, but that historians have tended to tell the story in separate accounts, focusing on either the political story in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress, or the military events in New York. But Ellis argues that they were two sides of a single story that cannot truly be understood unless they are told together. These events were happening at the same time, and what happened in one place influenced outcomes in the other. He proceeds to give us the story, with details of what was happening on both fronts. He provides descriptive portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, as well as some of the leading figures on the English side. His descriptions of the political and military situations are clear and revealing.

The events surrounding the American Revolution are familiar, and we think we know what happened, but he provides details that I did not know. For one thing, we know all the stories about the deprivations that the Continental Army faced throughout the war. One of the problems being that enlistments were normally for just a year, so recruits were leaving at the time they had finally been trained, and they had to start over with new recruits. They were also usually woefully short of supplies. But Ellis points out that this was inevitable, because Americans at that time feared a standing army, and saw it as an embodiment of centralized military power, which was the very thing they were fighting against. Individual states were more interested in supplying their local militias than the Continental Army. And the Army was intended to be transitory, expanding as needed to fight battles, supplemented by the militias. This is a point I had never thought of before, and don't remember it being pointed out by any other historian. In describing the military campaign in New York, he makes it clear that the English forces had several opportunities to crush the Continental Army, but allowed it to escape to fight another day. Another surprise to me was that both General William Howe and his brother Admiral Richard Howe, leaders of the English army and navy, still actually hoped to broker a diplomatic solution and end the fighting. They hoped the superior show of force would cause the Americans to rethink their position. However, by the time they arrived, it was too late, and the Continental Congress could not be turned.

I found the book to be extremely well-written, clear and easy to read, with wit with an occasional touch of irony. ( )

Professor and stolen-valorist Joseph J. Ellis has released another of his interesting, well-researched, and readable accounts of the Revolutionary era. If you liked his other works, like Founding Brothers, you will enjoy this book. It is an account of America's "Revolutionary Summer" (broadly construed) of 1776, covering the fight for Independence in Congress, the feelings of the people, and Washington's (often embarrassing) fight on the battlefield. It is told in a narrative form, but there are references to historical controversies and historiography. Ellis is a practicing, PhD'ed historian. as such, it is welcome to read this in conjunction with and compare it with David McCullough's 1776 (McCullough is a journalist-historian), which covers the same ground in a different fashion. Different perspectives and storytellers are always welcome. Ellis plumbs the primary sources for his account. There are pretty color plates and one map. Endnotes and index too. ( )

5700. Revolutionary Summer The Birth of American Independence, by Joseph J. Ellis (read 26 Jul 2020) This is a very readable account of the events of 1776. It shows that we were very lucky that the British did not eliminate the American army when it was in New York City. When the British failed to eliminate the American Army in 1776 the chance of the British winning the war greatly dwindled. ( )

A detailed explanation and analysis of roughly May to October, 1776. Ellis dives into the events to explain the sentiments of the Americans, the British, the military players and the principal politicians on both sides. This level of detail illuminates much of how and why the revolution started and prevailed, in a way a wider view leaves unexplained. Mr. Ellis writes with clarity, insight and comparison of known facts to make his point. Any student of American History should read this short but detailed compilation of fact. ( )