Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution | Jeff Shaara

Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution | Jeff Shaara | It will draw you into a period never known to people today

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Rise to Rebellion:...

	Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution Jeff Shaara Ballantine Books, 2004 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 153 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Outstanding way to present history

I have read the entire Civil War series by this author and his father, and each time they make history come alive. In "Rise To Rebellion" the events leading up to the American revolution are presented in a fashion that humanizes history rather than as usually found in a dry textbook. The people portrayed are seen as real persons with all their virtues and shortcomings. This is history as it should be written, suitable for all ages from high school through adulthood. It was a pleasure to read, and I could not put it down.

It will draw you into a period never known to people today

Perhaps it's because I remember when this country went all out to celebrate the bicentenial years (1975-1976) of the beginings of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence is why I love this book.
Most of the early plot is centered around Boston, and British laws that were thought to be unfair to Bostonians. Led by Sam Adams, and later bolstered by his cousin John Adams, the Sons of Liberty work to usurp British rule. Many think the Boston Tea Party was the origin of the American Revolution, but that was an act that had been almost a decade in the making.
Shaara's works always add depth and details to historic events, and not everybody is that interested in history. However, this time in our nation's history is very important, and one that is often overlooked in education.
Shaara develops the cause for rebellion and allows insight into men like Sam and John Adams, along with Benjamin Franklin. Franklin is almost the comic relief of Rise to Rebellion, and he comes across as a kindly grandfather. Just from his perspective this book is worth the price I paid for it.
Also, fairly enough, he shows the British side of the story, too. You almost feel sorry for British Gen. Thomas Gage.
The battle scenes are faily well told, if too short, but Shaara turns his focus mainly to the politics and development of the first Congress and drafting of the Decleration of Independence.
This book will add to a reader's understanding of why America broke with England.
Shaara divides the work between John Adams, Ben Franklin and at the end Gen. George Washington. Adams is the constant throughouht the work and you see his opinions, emotions and many doubts about the cause developed throughout.
Be warned, however, this is book one in a two-part series -- sort of like Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance.
I bought both Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause, book two which deals with the American Revolution, at the same time. So if you finish up Rise to Rebellion at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night, and don't have the next book, then you might have to wait a while to go on to The Glorious Cause.

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Rise to Literary Greatness

When I opened Jeff Shaara's Rise to Rebellion, I opened the door of a time machine, and was promptly ushered into the pre-Revolution time period. While Shaara's work remains technically historical fiction, he nails the time period, and most of the founding Fathers. Why couldn't my history teacher have given me this book and its companion, the Glorious Cause? You can learn a lot of history in an entertaining fashion from Professor Shaara. He just keeps getting better, and every history buff should have his work.

Charmingly written

The author of this book accomplishes what is genuinely difficult: giving voice to figures who are both historical and beyond history. Franklin, Washington, Adams- three names that we have heard countlessly in school and as adults who are interested in history, yet who were real men with dreams, sorrows, ambitions. In this book, the thoughts of these great people are conveyed with compassion, and the novel shows us how history can unfold from everyday events. The descriptions of the Boston Massacre, Franklin's days of diplomacy in England and the Congressional debates are vivid and just plain interesting. I am already reading The Glorious Cause, so Shaara obviously hooked me.

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Highly recommended

As a living historian generally disdainful of historical fiction I have struggled with ways to "sell" the American Revolution in a way the War for Southern Independence (1861-1865) does not require. The period does not seem as compelling or as accessible to the average person. That is not just unfortunate, it is tragic. The event, its characters, their struggles are the taproot of who we are and the farther we stray from our origins the easier it becomes for us to accept "socialism light". This book has helped me to overcome my prejudice of fiction.
I have little to add to all the favorable reviews here. They are all correct. All of the better known and many of the lesser known characters come to vivid life. The jumble of events which are often hard to keep straight are presented logically and in a way which allows the larger story to be understood and more importantly, remembered. We did not start out thinking independence. There was considerable ambivalence by many at the 1st and 2cd Continental congress. The course of action to be undertaken was revealed, understood and accepted slowly.
I am especially impressed with the accounts of Breed's Hill and the characters of Adams and Franklin. Can hardly wait to pick up the companion volume. In short, I will be recommending this book to every school and library I speak to and hope it will become a launching pad for the kind of reading and scholarship which this subject so richly deserves.

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