1776 is exactly what it says on the cover; a history about the crucial year of the American revolution. 1776 is focus on George Washington and the men around him, following the patriots from their triumph at the siege of Boston, to the bloody expulsion from New York, and the hard trek across New Jersey which ended with the sudden battles of Trenton and Princeton (America-we'll murder you in your sleep on Christmas!).

McCollough, as dean of the American historians, has a keen and sensitive eye in drawing narrative and character from the archives. He finds Washington and his colleagues in a moment of transition, unsure in a task no one alive has ever attempted, failing at time, but always learning from their mistakes and buoyed by the common purpose of independence. There's a lot more to be said about the revolution, but we're lucky to have a book by one of the master historians on this moment.