Search - Rise to Rebellion

Rise to Rebellion
 
Rise to Rebellion
Author: Jeffrey Shaara

Book Information
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Paperback
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780345452061 - ISBN-10: 0345452062
Publication Date: 3/26/2002
Pages: 576


Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged)

Book Description:
4 Cassettes, 6 hrs.
Performance by Victor Garber

RISE TO REBELLION is set in the tumultuous years leading up to the American Revolution in 1776. In chapters, narrated by a wide variety of characters both British and colonist, listeners are made to understand the complex issues and circumstances that are leading to the inevitable war.

Benjamin Franklin, the colonist's senior diplomat, is living in London in 1770 as the novel opens. In his wise observations and conversations with his British counterparts, Franklin relates the growing hunger for freedom that is building in the colonies. Already in 1770 some of the more radical of the colonists, such as Sam Adams, are doing all they can to rouse their fellow citizens to active rebellion. Others, such as John Adams, are more cautious about rushing to war, though we see their patience wear thin when they realize that the British have no intention of giving in to even their smallest demands for everyday freedoms.
RISE TO REBELLION succeeds not only by dramatizing the events of the time— The Boston Tea Party, and The Battles of Concord and Bunker Hill, most prominently —but also by engaging us in the personal lives of the main characters. Whether it is Franklin thinking of his wife whom he has left behind in the colonies while he serves his country in London, or John Adams reflecting on the imminent birth of his son and the kind of country he is being born into, we are always struck by the power of these remarkable men to shape their times and their destinies.




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Top Member Book Reviews

Jody A. wrote on 8/10/2007...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Once more breathing vigor and passion into the dusty annals of our nation's history, the author of the bestselling Civil War trilogy (Gods and Generals; The Last Full Measure; Gone for Soldiers) demonstrates an ever-growing level of literary competence in the first installment of his projected two-volume saga of the American Revolution. Spanning the crucible years beginning with the Boston Massacre in March 1770 and continuing through the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July, 4, 1776, the story is told from the perspective of a handful of characters well known from our history books. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty activist Samuel Adams and his younger, more intellectual and oratorical second cousin, John Adams, speak out against King George III. In London there's aging Philadelphian Benjamin Franklin, who has resided for a number of years abroad, an agent for home colony Pennsylvania (and others). In New York, Gen. Thomas Gage is the ranking British officer on American soil. And heroic colonial planter George Washington has risen to full colonel in the Virginia militia fighting for George III during the French and Indian War. This masterful dramatization of the fateful escalation of the rebellion following the Boston Massacre moves from the battles of 1775 at Lexington, Concord, Fort Ticonderoga, Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston, through the convening in 1776 of the Continental Congress and the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Richly embroidered with portraits of such heroes as Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Thomas Jefferson, the tapestry chronicles America's plunge toward liberty

Cindy L. wrote on 7/22/2007...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

In this novel, Jeff Shaara brings to life the American Revolution through the men who helped forge the destiny of a nation - from idealistic attorney John Adams to audacious inventor and philosopher Ben Franklin; from Thomas Gage, the British general given the task of crushing a colonial rebellion, to George Washington, the Virginian who took command of a colonial army.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in historical fiction.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Cherryl M. (drummergirl) wrote on 4/12/2009...


This is the paperback version, same isbn but the cover listed with the book and the one we have differs. This is the first mass market edition April 2002 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Email us for a picture. It's a dramatization, so if you love those tv dramatizations on the evening news, history/crime channels, etc., this is a book you will like. If you are looking for jsut the facts ma'm, this is not your book.

Brien P. wrote on 12/9/2006...


Gripping narrative of true, factual and quite exciting historical events, but wooden dialogue, I thought.

Dane N. wrote on 6/8/2006...


I didn't actually read this. I had to read Killer Angels (written by Jeff's Father) in graduate school, and while I enjoyed that, the thought of cracking this one open brought back too many bad memories of the worst of those days, days where it seemed I asked myself "why am I doing this? Am I too chicken to simply walk out in protest?" Anyway, it's probably a pretty fun read, but who cares. . .

Jeanne K. wrote on 5/3/2006...


Gripping Human Drama - Baltimore Sun

Book of the Month Club Selection and History Book Club

Raymond R. wrote on 3/29/2006...


This was a pretty good book for someone who wasn't a writer and only got into the history writing gig because of his dad.

Nick W. wrote on 12/19/2005...


Brings to life the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence.


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