Overview

"No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies together was like getting ""thirteen clocks to strike at once."" Other books have been written about the Declaration, but no author has traced the political journey from protest to Revolution with the narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes readers from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost. At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls ""a national resource."""

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9781608190089

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Mesmerizing. Masterful. History written with the gravitational pull of a good novel. A history book that deserves to become a big best seller. --Dan Rather <p> This is how it really happened. In unequivocal prose, John Ferling captures the combined bluster and outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. He exposes the quirks, while exploring the vision, of the opinionated, opportunistic delegates who were present in Philadelphia in 1776; he shows us just how they rhetorically overcame the mystique of invincibility that attached to the British military, before launching America, in the words of one delegate, on a most Tempestuous Sea. Independence is rich in personality, and Ferling unsurpassed as an authority. This is no ordinary history. --Andrew Burstein, author of Jefferson's Secrets, and coauthor of Madison and Jefferson <p> <p> John Ferling has established himself as one of the leading chroniclers of the American Revolution, but Independence goes beyond anything he ha

Mesmerizing. Masterful. History written with the gravitational pull of a good novel. A history book that deserves to become a big best seller. --Dan Rather <p> This is how it really happened. In unequivocal prose, John Ferling captures the combined bluster and outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. He exposes the quirks, while exploring the vision, of the opinionated, opportunistic delegates who were present in Philadelphia in 1776; he shows us just how they rhetorically overcame the mystique of invincibility that attached to the British military, before launching America, in the words of one delegate, on a most Tempestuous Sea. Independence is rich in personality, and Ferling unsurpassed as an authority. This is no ordinary history. --Andrew Burstein, author of Jefferson's Secrets, and coauthor of Madison and Jefferson <p> <p> John Ferling has established himself as one of the leading chroniclers of the American Revolution, but Independence goes beyond anything he has

Author Information

John Ferling is Professor Emeritus of History at the State University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he has appeared in many documentaries and has written numerous books, including Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War for Independence, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, The First of Men: A Life of George Washington, Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, and Jefferson in the American Revolution, and the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic.

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