Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History: 1585-1828

by Walter A. McDougall

Book Overview

A powerful reinterpretation of the founding of America, by a Pulitzer Prize -- winning historian "The creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past four hundred years," declares Walter McDougall in his preface to Freedom Just Around the Corner. With this statement begins McDougall's most ambitious, original, and uncompromising of histories. McDougall marshals the latest scholarship and writes in a style redolent of passion,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060197897
• ISBN13: 9780060197896
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Balanced, lively, easy to read but very complete

This is very simply the best one volume history available of early American history. McDougall covers the time from 1585 to 1828. In other words, he starts his story in England prior to the foundation of the American colonies and takes it down to Andrew Jackson. I can not praise this book too much. It does everything you want a history book to do. First, it covers the subject, in a way that a total beginner could follow but which teaches a great deal to those of us already well versed in American history. Second, it has no obvious political bias. Too much historical writing these days -- yes, I am thinking about Howard Zinn -- is marred by gross and silly modern biases. McDougall is neither a rah-rah wave the flag kind of guy, nor is he an American-is-the-root-of-all-evil kind of guy. He just lays out the facts, the good, the bad and the ugly. He assumes that the reader has some brains and can make his or her own moral judgments. It is SUCH a relief to read history without heavy moralizing. Finally, the book is lively and easy to read. McDougall has a very non-academic style. He uses a good deal of slang and informal language. Some might find it undignified, but I found it a welcome relief to the usual turgid pomposity of academic writing. To me, his writing is clear, simple and to the point. It is also often funny. A very good book, and a very good read.

Informative history

The book is very informative and beautifully written. It tells of our history before "it all started" and encompasses every event that took place and had an impact on the foundation of America, the United States. I'm very pleased with its reading!

Excellent Research - Great Writing

This is obviously a well researched book. Mr. McDougall does not only a good job of presenting the reader with the actions and prevailing sentiments leading up to the American Revolution, but he also gives more in-depth explanations than you'd find in 'standard' American history books. The motives for revolution were far more complex and varied than the popular conception in this country. Additionally, Mr. McDougall reminds the reader that independence from Britain was not an overwhelming choice for all members of the thirteen colonies. And the author traces the backgrounds of the people who make up those colonies to provide the reason for this. My only (minor) problems with the book were that the included maps did not live up to the quality of the text and I think the author tries a little to hard to make his point that America was built by 'hustlers.' But this is certainly a book I highly recommend for anyone interested in the forming of the country. For a real treat, read it in conjunction with Alan Taylor's American Colonies. Also recommended: American Colonies by Alan Taylor, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose.

The Textbook You Wish You'd Had in School

Did we need one more history of the US? Even McDougall isn't so sure about that. But he manages to find a path that hasn't been beaten down. Where the tendency of American historians has been to find One Big Peg on which to hang their histories, McDougall pitches a big tent and tries hard to fit everybody under it. He works hard to tell the whole story without trying to shape it to lead to a particular moral. For example, McDougall's approach to America's Christian roots. He doesn't try to minimize them and pretend that they weren't really there or didn't really matter, but neither does he try to elevate them into a thesis about Americans being God's Chosen People. He acknowledges them and presents them thoroughly without trying to shape them to prove something. If McDougall has a point of view, it is that of a mild cynic. His one thesis is that Americans have always been hustlers in both senses of the word-- hard workers and scammers. This gives the work a tendency to shy away from Big Deep Ideas and philosophical cant. Where many historians have tried to layer American history in fancy clothes (This cigar is really a symbol of the repressed oppression of growing economic anti-humanistic struggling), this book leaves the impression of a more direct view (This is a cigar). Beyond that, most of his organizational tools are about analysis rather than interpretation. His language is relaxed, cleasr and sometimes even colloquial, and his reach is considerable. There's a great deal of information here, but explained and organized so that the reader comes away with a clear view of a large picture. If I were a high school history teacher, I'd be begging for sets of this book to teach from. A great and clear read.

Another great work by Walter McDougall

For sheer intelligence and insight, coupled with stunning articulation, few can match the ability of Walter McDougall. In fact, I am not sure that there are any better living historians.This too will delight and inform and offer a lifetime's food for thought.