FLEMING : 1776 (fülszöveg)
This book explores the reality of the year 1776 – a reality which has been too long shrouded in myth and misconception. As a consequence of this misapprehension, our panicky inferiority about our own era has been sharpened to a dangerous edge.
What is the myth of 1776? To state it in its baldest terms: This was the one time in American life when idealism was truly in flower. Actuated by the purest patriotism, led by a soldier whom everyone adored – George Washington – who in turn was guided by a caucus of political geniuses in Philadelphia – the Continental Congress – sturdy farmers raced from their plows to hurl themselves into conflict with British mercenaries. Never have so many great men, magnetic leaders, sprung from nowhere to guide a people infused with a beautiful enthusiasm for liberty. In this book, Thomas Fleming explodes this myth by examining all dimensions of that year – particularly the least known aspects of the common, fallible humanity of the men and women of the Revolution.
The year 1776 ended with both the Americans and the British stripped of their illusions. Both sides had been forced to abandon the myth of their invincibility and to confront the realities of human nature on the battlefield and in the struggle for allegiance to their causes. For the Americans, it had been a shock to discover that it was easy to persuade people to cheer for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but it was another matter to persuade them to take large risks, to make real sacrifices for these ideals. For the British, their goal of achieving proper subordination of America to England was frustrated forever. Seventeen seventy-six was a tragic year: Americans fighting in the name of liberty persecuted and sometimes killed fellow Americans who chose to remain loyal to the old order with its more circumscribed, yet sincere, commitment to freedom. Seventeen seventy-six was a heroic year: It brought forth the leaders who had the courage to fight for freedom. Seventeen seventy-six was a disgraceful year: Americans revealed a capacity for cowardice, disorganization, incompetence, and stupidity.
Thomas Fleming writes, "We have celebrated the heroic side of 1776 for a long time. Perhaps after two hundred years we are ready to look steadily at the dark side of the story as well. Perhaps by facing it, absorbing it, contemporary and future Americans will be spared the paroxysms of shock and dismay, the cries of despair and predictions of imminent doom which emanate from so many mouths whenever some of these negative traits appear among our contemporary politicians or soldiers or plain citizens. Instead of these seizures of infantile emotion, perhaps we can begin to accept such failings as part of our limited human natures and learn from the mistakes, without losing hope or faith in the future."
This book contributes significantly to an understanding of America's development. The presentation of a realistic and mature view of the year 1776 can enable us to find a far deeper meaning for our own time and for the future.
In twenty years of writing and lecturing, Thomas Fleming has emerged as one of the leading interpreters of the American Revolution for our time. He has written widely praised books on the battles of Bunker Hill, Springfield, and Yorktown as well as biographies of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. 1776: Year of Illusions is both a gripping narrative of the most extraordinary year in American history and a summation of his thinking about the events that created America's image of itself.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
