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Claudio Saunt

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West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776 Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

by Claudio Saunt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 244 ratings

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This panoramic account of 1776 chronicles the other revolutions unfolding that year across North America, far beyond the British colonies.

In this unique history of 1776, Claudio Saunt looks beyond the familiar story of the thirteen colonies to explore the many other revolutions roiling the turbulent American continent. In that fateful year, the Spanish landed in San Francisco, the Russians pushed into Alaska to hunt valuable sea otters, and the Sioux discovered the Black Hills. Hailed by critics for challenging our conventional view of the birth of America, West of the Revolution “[coaxes] our vision away from the Atlantic seaboard” and “exposes a continent seething with peoples and purposes beyond Minutemen and Redcoats” (Wall Street Journal).

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The year 1776 was momentous and, as Saunt’s innovative survey shows, not only for American colonists rebelling against the British Empire. Beyond the Appalachian Mountains, events were in motion that would influence what peoples and powers would control North America. Geographically staged in nine regions of the continent, Saunt’s narratives broadly concern themselves with native peoples’ reactions to territorial expansions by European powers. On the Pacific coast, Russia advanced south from the Aleutian Islands, and Spain probed north from Mexico, with deleterious consequences for indigenous groups. Inland, the Lakota Sioux were migrating toward the Black Hills of modern South Dakota; the Osage of Missouri coped with the Spanish and British presence along the Mississippi River; and in the Southeast, the Creeks strove to obtain Spanish support against Americans expanding from Georgia. Saunt ably integrates local geographical and climatic conditions into the anxieties and actions of imperial officials on the scene while exhibiting insight into the predicaments faced by the pertinent Indian tribes. Taking uncommon perspectives, Saunt’s accounts will fascinate readers interested in the colonial history of North America. --Gilbert Taylor

Review

"[A] panoramic view of North America…rife with fascinating facts."
― Jacob E. Osterhout, Newsweek

"Brilliant."
― Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times

"Perceptive and original."
― Gerard Helferich, Wall Street Journal

"[B]old and inclusive…a significant contribution to our understanding of this volatile and formative period in American history."
― Doug Kiel, Chicago Tribune

"A history more terrible than wondrous, a necessary counternarrative to our enlightened Revolution…Saunt stretches the scope of his history to provide context and background…He has created a sweeping narrative of noncolonial America in 1776. But he is at his most colorful when he finds individual stories, such as that of the Frenchman floating down the Arkansas River with ‘one severed head and the corpses of two of his companions.’"
― Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times

"An engaging, original, and thought-provoking book on what was happening on the American continent in 1776 outside of our traditional line of sight. The result is a fascinating new look at the most familiar of years."
― Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America

"[A]s compelling and awful as a ghost story…[A] masterful portrait."
― Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

"A dramatic and compelling new take on the North America of 1776. With careful research and in evocative writing, Saunt brilliantly recovers the cultural diversity and many possibilities of a continent dominated by native peoples and coveted by several empires."
― Alan Taylor, author of The Internal Enemy

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FQUDNAS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (June 16, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 16, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6756 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 289 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #531,941 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #109 in 18th Century World History
- #310 in Native American History (Kindle Store)
- #382 in US Revolution & Founding History (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 244 ratings

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Claudio Saunt

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Claudio Saunt, the Russell Professor of History at the University of Georgia, teaches and writes about early and Native American history. His most recent book is Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory. On May 28, 1830, Congress authorized the expulsion of indigenous peoples in the East to territories west of the Mississippi River. Over the next decade, Native Americans saw their homelands and possessions stolen through fraud, intimidation, and murder. Unworthy Republic received the Bancroft Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

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4.2 out of 5

244 global ratings

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Stefan Kassza

I Could Not Put This Book Down !

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2016

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I very much enjoyed this book. Bought it for a history class, and found it an extremely interesting read, and very much true to its title. Chock - full of fresh, insightful research not taught in the conventional classroom, I cannot but give this book five stars - highly recommended to the historian who wants a fresh new look at a dynamic and defining period in our nation's history. An easy five stars from me...
P. S. I noticed an earlier review mentioning that half the book is footnotes and that the book is horribly written. The latter leaves no room for comment since that is very much based on opinion, but as far as the former goes, extensive footnotes are common in scholarly accounts and are actually indicative of solid research and necessary for history majors who have to write something like a comparative book reviews etc.

5 people found this helpful

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Carla Ingram

Go West and read this book

Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2014

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The author does a great job shedding light on events that are local as well as large in scope. It was fascinating to read about the local Native American tribes and how they were affected by the politics of world empires upon the West. I was especially interested in the Lakota's claim of the Black Hills, which was very informative. My only complaint was that as the author told the story of each topic he jumped around time quite a bit and made it hard to follow chronologically. And, at times he seemed to drift away from 1776, so don't expect the book to be purely about that time period. However, this book gave great insight into life in the west and how those people were affected by elements such as the weather, early trading among natives and foreigners, geography (like why the Black Hills were ideal), and animals (good read on beavers).

42 people found this helpful

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Nico Vela

A Fascinating Read on the events of 1776 West of the 13 Colonies.

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2017

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A fascinating read! Having purchased this book for a Seminar on Early America, this book shows the events that are transpiring outside of the North East. We see the Lakota and their claim to the Black Hills, of San Diego and San Francisco. It sheds light on areas that are often ignored in the context of 1776, as they were technically outside of America. It is nonetheless an interesting read and fulls one in on many aspects of 1776 that you don't get in ordinary History Classes.

One person found this helpful

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Mr. Flint

The world of 1776

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024

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A look at America's wild west in 1776. I'd rather be in Philadelphia!

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Thomas McGuire -drummer1369

A story that needed to be told

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2018

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Divided into geographic sections it describes the interweaving of culture, climate , biology and commerce and how it shaped the North America we know today. A great read for those interested in the parallels of biology, geography , economy and history.

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Kristopher M. Schnee

An Exciting Piece Of the Puzzle

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2019

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There are different lenses for studying history. For early North American history (at least for Americans) the focus is overwhelmingly on the eastern seaboard, its colonies, and the road to revolution. This book helps fill in other pieces of the puzzle that were going on at about the same time as the revolution.

There's a discussion of early land speculation on and beyond the Appalachian Mountains (which was a factor in the war itself and Washington's personal life). There's talk of multiple Indian tribes and how their political and economic future was reshaped by the 1763 treaty of the Seven Years' War, which put some of them under greater or lesser control of particular monarchs. I particularly liked the maps showing how certain tribes suddenly gained or lost trading partners, which was a sort of overlay on more traditional maps of which king claimed which land. There's talk of the Spanish expansion in California as they began to colonize modern San Francisco, and the dangerous expeditions and raids they were involved in. Then there's discussion of how the Russians were heavily involved in exploring Alaska to hunt for furs, and how they repeatedly clashed with the local tribes in an echo of what was happening on the east coast. Amusingly there's a section on Spanish paranoia about the Russian threat to their north. "Sire, see this map?! The Russians are practically here already!"

So, this book helps provide a perspective that I knew little about despite studying early American history. I had also recently read a history of Astoria, an ill-fated attempt to colonize what's now Oregon, so this book ties in well with that.

7 people found this helpful

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Denver Welogr

Early history of the United States, a more complete picture...

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017

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When I was in school, 1700's history was all about the thirteen colonies and their eventual independence. The rest of the continent was ignored, and any activities there assumed to be of no consequence.
Saunt shows that the colonies were a minor story in a continent of amazing long-distance trade and interaction between the native peoples. Along with those activities, sophisticated on their own, was the movement into the country of the Russians, Spanish, and French, all from different directions, to compete with the English, and all seeking to claim territory of completely unknown size and geography. This book is an eye-opener as to how the landscape was discovered, partitioned, and the interactions with the native peoples that have colored our opinions as a nation until today.
Read this book and change your knowledge of the early history of the United States.

6 people found this helpful

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SCJ

Would not recommend!

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2021

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This book came as a recommendation from the DAR. It had some interesting facts, but just didn't have enough to keep you reading. Save your money!