Overview

"The complicated life and legacy of John Trumbull, whose paintings portrayed both the struggle and the principles that distinguished America's founding moment John Trumbull (1756–1843) experienced the American Revolution firsthand—he served as aid to George Washington and Horatio Gates, was shot at, and was jailed as a spy. He made it his mission to record the war, giving visual form to what most citizens of the new United States thought: that they had brought into the world a great and unprecedented political experiment. His purpose, he wrote, was ""to preserve and diffuse the memory of the noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man."" Although Trumbull's contemporaries viewed him as a painter, Trumbull thought of himself as a historian. Richard Brookhiser tells Trumbull's story of acclaim and recognition, a story complicated by provincialism, war, a messy personal life, and, ultimately, changing fashion. He shows how the artist's fifty-year project embodied the meaning of American exceptionalism and played a key role in defining the values of the new country. Trumbull depicted the story of self-rule in the modern world—a story as important and as contested today as it was 250 years ago."

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Reviews

“Richard Brookhiser brings his hard-earned knowledge to the founding era and his famously succinct style to the artist most responsible for our romanticized vision of the American Revolution. Brookhiser dissects John Trumbull’s “Glorious Lessons” with an appreciative but critical eye.”—Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783 “Richard Brookhiser’s absorbing exploration of John Trumbull’s political and artistic imagination provides fresh and penetrating insights into the revolutionary period, one of the most intensely creative moments in Western history.”—Susan Dunn, author of Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, and the Decline of Virginia “Brookhiser weaves a lively, insightful account of the life and iconic work of America’s first and foremost visual historian, John Trumbull, whose familiar paintings shape our memory of the Revolution.”—Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, Yale University Art Gallery

“Richard Brookhiser brings his hard-earned knowledge to the founding era and his famously succinct style to the artist most responsible for our romanticized vision of the American Revolution. Brookhiser dissects John Trumbull’s ‘Glorious Lessons’ with an appreciative but critical eye.”—Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 “Richard Brookhiser’s absorbing exploration of John Trumbull’s political and artistic imagination provides fresh and penetrating insights into the revolutionary period, one of the most intensely creative moments in Western history.”—Susan Dunn, author of Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, and the Decline of Virginia “Brookhiser weaves a lively, insightful account of the life and iconic work of America’s first and foremost visual historian, John Trumbull, whose familiar paintings shape our memory of the Revolution.”—Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, Yale University Art Gallery

“Nuanced, engaging and incisive.”—Stephen Brumwell, Wall Street Journal Listed by Wall Street Journal in “7 Books to Read for Independence Day” “Succinct, both scholarly and direct. . . . Wonderful art history.”—Brian T. Allen, National Review “Richard Brookhiser brings his hard-earned knowledge to the founding era and his famously succinct style to the artist most responsible for our romanticized vision of the American Revolution. Brookhiser dissects John Trumbull’s ‘Glorious Lessons’ with an appreciative but critical eye.”—Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 “Richard Brookhiser’s absorbing exploration of John Trumbull’s political and artistic imagination provides fresh and penetrating insights into the revolutionary period, one of the most intensely creative moments in Western history.”—Susan Dunn, author of Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, and the Decline of Virginia “Brookhiser weaves a lively, insightful account of the life and iconic work of America’s first and foremost visual historian, John Trumbull, whose familiar paintings shape our memory of the Revolution.”—Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, Yale University Art Gallery

Author Information

Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a fellow of the National Review Institute. His books include Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington and Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln. He lives in New York City.

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