Book 52

1776 by David McCullough

Type: Nonfiction, History

My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I thought this was an appropriate book to end my year's goal to read 52 books in 52 weeks. With all the news this year about government bailouts, massive deficit spending, inflation of the money supply and extremely high levels of unemployment, I found it fitting to step back in time to when our founding fathers declared independence from a tyrannical and oppressive government and then had to fight for their liberty.

What I liked about it: The American Revolutionary War took place over the nine-year period from 1775-1783. This book focuses on the important battles and events that took place only in 1776. During 1776, the war geographically took place in Boston, New York City, northern New Jersey and included Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware into Pennsylvania. Although history never much appealed to me in school, it was a quite refreshing experience to watch as General George Washington attempted to lead an inexperienced and underpaid army against the British redcoats. Overall, it was a good introduction to the Revolutionary War. My next read on this topic will be Angel in the Whirlwind by Benson Bobrick, which is supposed to cover at least some of Washington's harsh winter of 1777-78 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.