If history textbooks were written by David McCullough, I think I would have had a much greater interest in U.S. history in high school. I truly remember my history classes as mostly a series of names and dates and events, but - as cliche as it sounds - McCullough brings it all to life. In this book, I actually got a real sense for who George Washington was - his personality, his weaknesses, and his motivation - things I never even thought about when "studying" history in the classroom. Being from New England, I started learning about the American Revolution in elementary school. That, combined with how I consider myself a Bostonian, is probably why I found the parts of the book about Boston the most interesting; when the war moved on to New York, I wasn't as enthralled. Still, I was thoroughly engaged and curious throughout the book.
The book reads very easily, like McCullough is simply tying together a bunch of quotes from first-person sources, which I guess is what he did, in an artful way.
I found myself wanting to know more about the beginnings of the American Revolution - from McCullough's view - and more about how the war actually ended, but I can hardly blame the book for being true to its title: the primary focus is on events in 1776. Anyway, the book was written as a "companion" to McCullough's John Adams, and I suspect (having seen the HBO movie version) that that book does provide a broader view of the revolution.
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