The American Revolution - by Edward Countryman (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A newly revised version of a classic in American history

When The American Revolution was first published in 1985, it was praised as the first synthesis of the Revolutionary War to use the new social history. Edward Countryman offered a balanced view of how the Revolution was made by a variety of groups-ordinary farmers as well as lawyers, women as well as men, blacks as well as whites-who transformed the character of American life and culture.

In this newly revised edition, Countryman stresses the painful destruction of British identity and the construction of a new American one. He expands his geographical scope of the Revolution to include areas west of the Alleghenies, Europe, and Africa, and he draws fresh links between the politics and culture of the independence period and the creation of a new and dynamic capitalist economy. This innovative interpretation of the American Revolution creates an even richer, more comprehensive portrait of a critical period in America's history.

Review Quotes

"Fine, concise history . . . Better than any comparable treatment." --Sean Wilentz, In These Times

"As a synthesis of modern scholarship on the Revolution, this important book has no rival. " --Pauline Maier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

About the Author

Edward Countryman, professor of history at Southern Methodist University, is the author of Americans (Hill and Wang, 1996) and A People in Revolution: Political Society in New York, 1760-1790, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize in 1982. He lives in Dallas, Texas.