A History of the American Revolution
The history of the American rebellion against England, written by one of America’s preeminent eighteenth-century historians, differs from many views of the Revolution. It is not colored by excessive worship of the Founding Fathers but, instead, permeated by sympathy for all those involved in the conflict. Alden has taken advantage of recent scholarship that has altered opinions about George III and Lord North. But most of all this is a balanced history—political, military, social, constitutional—of the thirteen colonies from the French and Indian War in 1763 to Washington’s inauguration in 1789. Whether dealing with legendary figures like Adams and Jefferson or lesser-known aspects of a much picked-over subject, Alden writes with insights and broad eloquence.
John R. Alden was born in Michigan in 1908 and attended the University of Michigan, where he received his AB (1929), MA (1930), and PhD (1939). He taught at the University of Nebraska (1945–55), then transferred to Duke University in 1955, where he was chairman of the Department of History (1957–60), and was appointed, in 1963, James B. Duke Professor of History. He has also taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, and Columbia University. Among his many academic honors is the Albert J. Beveridge Prize of the American Historical Association (1945) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1955–56). Mr. Alden was invited to be Commonwealth Fund Lecturer at University College, London, in 1960, and Donald Fleming Lecturer at…
