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Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom Hardcover – Illustrated, November 7, 2017

by Russell Shorto (Author)

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From the author of the acclaimed history The Island at the Center of the World, an intimate new epic of the American Revolution that reinforces its meaning for today.

Russell Shorto’s work has been praised as “first-rate intellectual history” (Wall Street Journal), “literary alchemy” (Chicago Tribune) and simply “astonishing” (New York Times).

In his epic new book, Russell Shorto takes us back to the founding of the American nation, drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies to flesh out six lives that cast the era in a fresh new light. They include an African man who freed himself and his family from slavery, a rebellious young woman who abandoned her abusive husband to chart her own course and a certain Mr. Washington, who was admired for his social graces but harshly criticized for his often-disastrous military strategy.

Through these lives we understand that the revolution was fought over the meaning of individual freedom, a philosophical idea that became a force for violent change. A powerful narrative and a brilliant defense of American values, Revolution Song makes the compelling case that the American Revolution is still being fought today and that its ideals are worth defending.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Shorto’s achievement is a remarkable one. The intertwined stories of Revolution Song give a sense of how far-reaching a phenomenon the War of Independence was. It leaves to readers the pleasure of judging what each of the figures in the book―or perhaps the combination of them all―contributed to an event that changed the world."
― New York Times Book Review

"An engaging piece of historical detective work and narrative craft."
― Chicago Tribune

"Russell Shorto’s engaging new book appears at a moment when basic concepts of rights and equality are routinely disparaged. As if in response to our troubled political culture, he invites readers to return to the American Revolution to understand better how an 18th-century commitment to freedom took root and became a fundamental, unifying value in our nation’s history. . . . [Shorto has] produced a compelling work that reads almost like a good detective story. . . . Shorto deserves praise for reminding us of the complexity of freedom’s claims."
― Brian Greer, American Scholar

"How did the teenaged daughter of a British officer view the American Revolution, from behind enemy lines in New York? What did that contest mean to a shrewd, contemplative Iroquois warrior? Russell Shorto has emerged from the archives with a bold, largely neglected cast. He has set them free in a rich, prismatic narrative, as intensely vivid as it is seamlessly constructed."
― Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Witches: Salem, 1692

"Brilliant, captivating and fast-paced, Revolution Song is a wonderfully original take on the American Revolution that reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put this book down."
― Amy Chua, Yale Law School professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

"With symphonic sweep, cinematic detail and compelling, superbly researched real-life characters, Shorto shows how our struggle for freedom began and why it remains so sadly unfinished. If Spielberg wrote history, this is how it would read."
― Howard Fineman, NBC News analyst and author of The Thirteen American Arguments

"Amazing: Russell Shorto shows us what a diverse, fascinating, cosmopolitan place this country has been since its founding."
― Charles C. Mann, author of 1491

"An engaging, readable and surprisingly complete account of the American Revolution. A tour de force."
― Gordon S. Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution

"Russell Shorto has long had an astonishing talent for adjusting the focus in ways that make familiar swaths of history seem intriguingly foreign and fresh. With Revolution Song, he’s worked his magic again. Through his vigorous language, his mastery of archival sources and the pleasing interweave of his six carefully chosen characters, Shorto has composed a powerful polyphonic story, simultaneously grand and intimate, that makes us hear (and see and feel) the tumult of our nation’s founding as never before."
― Hampton Sides, New York Times best-selling author of In the Kingdom of Ice

About the Author

Russell Shorto is the best-selling author of The Island at the Center of the World, Amsterdam, and Revolution Song, and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. He lives in Cumberland, Maryland.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (November 7, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 640 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393245543
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393245547
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.27 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.6 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #366,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #288 in American Revolution Biographies (Books)
- #677 in U.S. Revolution & Founding History

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4.6 274 ratings

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Russell Shorto

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RUSSELL SHORTO's latest book is "Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom," which Gordon S. Wood calls "an engaging, readable and surprisingly complete account of the American Revolution" and "a tour de force." He is also author of the bestseller "The Island at the Center of the World" and of "Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City." His books have been published in fourteen languages. From 2008 to 2013 he was the director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam.

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Rob Fisher

Wonderful story telling

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023

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Wonderful book. A bit rosey in its portrayal of Washington but other than that just incredible. Very moving and thought provoking

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JBA122

Russo writes history like it's fiction.

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2018

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Excellent book! Russo writes history like it's fiction. I read his book The Island at the Center of the World last summer so when I saw he had come out with a new book I was eager to read and it did not disappoint. He picked six individuals to profile in order to tell the story of the revolution from their several different viewpoints, and in doing so the book tells the story of the revolution from several different viewpoints, including the Indian Seneca, George Washington, a man who is kidnapped into slavery in Africa, comes to the colonies, and ultimately buys his freedom. There is also a young woman born in the colonies who is forced into marriage by her father and moves to London where she makes her way on her own terms. The unknown characters are as interesting if not more so than those you may have read about before.

2 people found this helpful

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William J. Bahr

Revolution, an American song well-sung!

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018

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I very much enjoyed this book and found it intriguing, especially the parts about Lord Germain. I would have given the book a 5-star rating had it not had a number of issues relating to the one character (of six covered) I know a little about (Washington). If the author does choose to update his book, in addition to his paying a little more attention to ambiguous pronouns, I’d recommend he address the following:

P 3: “Three thousand miles away [America - England],” is really more like 4000 miles away, with rounding. Maybe 3000 “nautical miles,” a nautical mile being 1.15 miles. Then, too, ships didn't travel in a straight line. P 83: “4000 miles across that same ocean…[Anomabo (West Africa) - Long Island (New York)”: 5000 miles (with rounding) as the crow flies (over some land), must be 4000 nautical miles, but the journey was by sea, so the distance traveled was even longer. P 91: “…their leader was the brother of Jumonville….” Really was older half-brother. P 125: “So, as he had done in copying out the ‘Rules of Civility’ at age sixteen,…” Was done before the age of 16, as at that age he was off on a surveying trip. Copied “Rules” sometime between the age of 13-15. P 179: …”rum, molasses, a barrel of limes and, to please Martha and her sons,…” But in 1766, Martha had only one son. P 232 “He [Germain] had replaced Gage with William Howe, and sent Howe to Boston with new orders.” No, Howe was already in Boston, having fought at Bunker Hill and then replacing Gage. P. 242: “Perhaps as many as a third of Americans were still loyal to Britain.” OK for general debate and possibly true at a moment or two, but this percentage comes from a misused comment by John Adams. Modern historians say 10% revolutionaries, 10% loyalists, and 80% either just wanting to be left alone or going with the ever-changing wind. P 252 “…declaration the members of the Continental Congress had signed five days earlier [4 July].” No, it was printed on that date, having been signed earlier only by John Hancock and the congressional secretary Charles Thompson. P 253: “…neither [Germain and Washington] was especially a man of ideas…” Highly disputed, especially for Washington, the visionary who imagined and constructed the United States of America. P 364: One of his [Washington’s] generals lamented that….” Why not just say Nathaniel Greene? P 384: “He [Cornwallis] wrote to both Clinton and Germain ensuring them…” Typo: should be “assuring.” P 401: “…one of Washington’s junior officers….” I’m not sure I would classify Colonel Lewis Nicola as a junior officer. P 476 “…dentures…made of human teeth held together with ivory and gold.” Mount Vernon describes Washington’s dentures as follows: “Human teeth, probably horse and cow teeth, ivory (probably elephant), lead tin alloy, copper alloy (possibly brass), silver alloy. Just a few human teeth; no gold is mentioned. P 476: “Washington himself had fueled the divide by installing leaders [Hamilton and Jefferson] of the two parties…” Confusing, IMHO, as the parties were formed after Washington had installed the two men. P 477 “…Thomas Paine felt at liberty to air long-standing grievances….” This was a 1796 open letter. How long-standing the grievances were is hard to determine, given Paine’s often profuse praise for Washington earlier. Certainly, Washington’s refusal to directly help Paine out when Paine was “headed” for the French guillotine (by accident he lucked out in the last hours) certainly fueled Francophile Paine’s imagination. P 478 “Abolitionists accused him [Washington] of being the ultimate hypocrite [regarding holding slaves]….” The author fails to address the vast complexity of Washington’s slave-holding situation and that he was unique among the slave-holding founders as to having freed what slaves he could in his will. The author personalizes this charge when on page 506 he faults Washington for “his failure to live up to that ideal [individual freedom]. I can only trust that the facts about the five other characters covered were more or less accurate.

And, of course, adding the characters' pictures (even B&W) would be great. Bottom-line, though, I enjoyed the book. Well-sung!

10 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Wonderful Weaving of History

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2021

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When I taught school I used to try to teach history as a woven belt. The long running strands were not just wars but they were the arts, science, religion, medicine, government, human rights, music and many more. The shorter interwoven stands were the events throughout history that held the long strands together. Russell Shorto took a careful look at the section of the belt that comprised the American Revolution and brought six strands of the belt to life so, we could better understand this moment in our history and how it related to individuals then and how it relates to who we are today.

4 people found this helpful

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Rhys D. Schneider

Outstanding and Compelling Read

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2021

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The book is a comprehensive, well researched inter-woven story of known and unknown historical characters and how their lives were influenced during a period of early American cultural and political development. Couldn't wait to get back to it! This book was great value in a high quality condition.

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2023

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So many well-rated books are disappointing, but this actually is great if you like history.
Not far in, but I'm guessing George Washington may have become a revolutionary due to lack of promotion from the British for whom he'd initially worked (before our Revolution).

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qeg

Well written and interesting!

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2018

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Russell's angle on introducing additional views on History & adding new people, families and cultural views was outstanding. My family arrived in New England 380 years ago, one member is the 3rd name on the American Constitution. So, I find American History and our forefathers most interesting!

4 people found this helpful

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Kathleen M.

America as you haven't seen it before.

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2017

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This is the most extraordinary work of scholarship. And it reads like a fast-paced novel. Mr. Shorto has taken 6 historic individuals, compiled their individual stories and then woven them into the story of the American Revolution. George Washington is not at all what I always thought he was, for example. You can see the founding governmental ideals and policies have not changed in the past 300 years. I'm talking about realpolitik, not words on paper. I honestly think this should be a high school history textbook.

19 people found this helpful

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