Tag Archives: American Revolution

Passionate Sage

Posted on July 11, 2017 by smellincoffee

Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams© 1993 Joseph Ellis288 pages G.K. Chesteron once wrote that the Catholic Church is the only thing that saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. … Continue reading →

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Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet

Posted on June 28, 2017 by smellincoffee

Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin© 2008 Bill Kauffman227 pages There isn’t enough whitewash in the world to create a Luther Martin hagiography, Bill Kauffman admits, but in the spirit of lost causes he does his best. Billed … Continue reading →

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Revolutionary Summer – Independence Kickoff

Posted on June 16, 2017 by smellincoffee

288 pages © 2014 Joseph J. Ellis Earlier in the week I read Joseph Ellis’ Revolutionary Summer to kick off my yearly tribute to American Independence.   Ellis should be familiar to readers here, as I enjoy his narrative histories … Continue reading →

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So You Want to Read about the Revolution

Posted on July 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Although I’m reading American literature for Independence Day instead of history, why not share some favorites from previous years’ Independence Day salutes? Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin from HBO’s John Adams. Founding BiographiesJohn Adams, David McCulloughFirst Family: John … Continue reading →

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The Great Debate

Posted on June 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the  Birth of Right and Left© 2013 Yuval Levin296 pages The Great Debate uses the war of letters between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine  to explain the philosophical differences between conservatism and … Continue reading →

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The Quartet

Posted on September 2, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783 – 1789 © 2015 Joseph Ellis 320 pages How many men does it take to make a revolution? The American Revolution is usually taken to include the rising animus against the political … Continue reading →

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American Cicero

Posted on June 24, 2015 by smellincoffee

American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll © 2010 Bradley Birzer 230 pages When Charles Carroll of Carrollton signed the Declaration of Independence, he was risking the biggest fortune on the American mainland.  But Carroll had yearned for independence for … Continue reading →

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The Cost of Liberty

Posted on June 21, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson© 2013 William Murchinson257 pages “Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us.” Can you claim to be a Founding Father if you didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence?  What … Continue reading →

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The Men Who Lost America

Posted on August 7, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of an Empire© Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy480 pages The Men Who Lost America is a rare history of the American Revolution, one which follows not the revolutionaries, but their … Continue reading →

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Jefferson

Posted on July 9, 2014 by smellincoffee

Jefferson: A Novel© 1998 William Brant448 pages In  the late 1780s,  William Short put pen to paper to create a biography of his boss and mentor, Thomas Jefferson. Then serving as ambassador to France, Jefferson was already a seasoned American … Continue reading →

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