October 1, 2001
A famed historian sums up his life's work; his first book since winning the Pulitzer Prize.
Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2002
So vast and various is the literature telling, explaining, or criticizing the establishment of our nation that anyone could benefit from an analytic summary of the panoramic event. Wood certainly provides that omniscient detachment from the welter of opinions, as is to be expected from one of the more highly regarded historians of the period. His polished narrative flow only enhances this work's appeal to readers, whether or not they are knowledgeable about the American Revolution. Wood's fluidity is most evident in the prelude to the outbreak of hostilities in 1775, as Britain contrived reforms and rationalizations of its ramshackle empire in America. Building around signal events like the Stamp Act of 1765, Wood recounts lucidly and compactly how the policies that struck the crown as sensible irritated colonists as despotic encroachments on traditional self-governing rights. It was the colonists' claim that they were defending themselves against imperial innovations that lent the Revolution its peculiar conservative character. A succinct, superbly written survey.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)