- ISBN13: 9780807847237
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
One of the half dozen most important books ever written about the American Revolution.New York Times Book Review
During the nearly two decades since its publication, this book has set the pace, furnished benchmarks, and afforded targets for many subsequent studies. If ever a work of history merited the appellation ‘modern classic,’ this is surely one.William and Mary Quarterly
[A] brilliant and sweeping interpretation of political culture in the Revolutionary … More >>
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
Tags: 1776, 17761787, American, american revolution, benchmarks, Creation, important books, new york times, political culture, remainder mark, Republic, william and mary
#1 by Anonymous on March 30, 2010 - 3:05 pm
My contention is that Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions, predicated upon wealth (especially inherited wealth).
Rating: 3 / 5
#2 by R. Svitak on March 30, 2010 - 5:08 pm
I found this book to be very enlightening. It gives a glimpse into the workings of American Politics. Especially now with the elections coming up. It’s good to know where this process came from and how it evolved over time.
Rating: 3 / 5
#3 by V. Alston on March 30, 2010 - 6:12 pm
I gave this book as a gift to a friend who is well versed with Williamsburg and he thought the desription of the period was excellent.
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by J. Lindner on March 30, 2010 - 6:50 pm
This is one of those rare books that comes along once in a generation. No one prior, and no one since have come close to explaining the political ideology of the American Revolution and “Critical Period” so thoroughly. Gordon Wood picks up where Bernard Bailyn (who shows how American colonial governments evolved)leaves off and provides keen insight into how our present government came to be.
Wood makes no apologies for his subject, he simply does a superb job of providing the reader with evidence from which conclusions can be drawn. The Constitution is the culmination of the Revolution, but somehow it has allowed for our government to become the largest purveyor of entitlements the world has ever known. One wonders how the Articles of Confederation could have done much worse. Wood explains that Americans were freer under the Articles, but the politcos of the day saw an opportunity to grab a hold of the government and make people think they are actually a part of the decisions being made. Somewhere along the line, the original purity of American democracy became perverted into the monstrous federal government we see today.
But it wasn’t always this way. Americans, according to Wood, saw themselves as the standard bearers for the English constitution once they saw how the English themselves had lost sight of their constitution’s intent. They fought the war and crafted individual governments. Then along came the men of ambition who could not strive within the confines of a state government and needed something that would allow for greater achievement. Imperium in imperio became the obective of the new federal government.
Wood’s book is excellent. This should be required reader for anyone serving in Congress (though most would not understand what Wood is saying and the rest would be too stupid to grasp the real meaning of how our government came to be and who it was meant to serve). Somehow special interests spanning the political spectrum have come to be and most common Americans are forced to make decisions being informed mainly by the bombardement of political advertisements we see on television.
If one desires to understand what the American Revolution meant for our political system, this book is a must read.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by Newsman78 on March 30, 2010 - 8:25 pm
Wood’s classic is not one bit diminished by the modifications we might make to it around the edges today, more than thirty years since he wrote it. There is simply no way to understand the intellectual origins of the Revolution without it. Also a great read, very well written.
Rating: 5 / 5