The American Revolution

Fiske, John, 1842-1901Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
1.1M words
Chapters
111

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalMilitary StrategyPolitical AllegoryPortrait GalleryRise and FallPower GameHeroismCivic AwarenessPatriotismSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The American Revolution by John FiskeAuthor: Fiske, John, 1842-1901,Language: English, Class: E201: History: America: Revolution (1775-1783), Release Date: Nov 2, 2012

Editor's review

This is John Fiske's historical work on the American Revolution, released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Fiske was an influential nineteenth-century American writer of popular history, known for clear narrative lines and for connecting political and military developments. The book sets the Revolution within the broader context of colonial and imperial relations, making it suitable for readers seeking a coherent narrative framework. A caveat: nineteenth-century writing of this kind carries a distinct period perspective and national narrative coloring, and its judgments of people and events may not meet the cautious standards of contemporary historiography. The book is therefore better used as an introductory narrative and a sample of historiography than as a final verdict. As you read, notice how the author paces the war's progress and explains the conflict's roots, and compare with modern scholarship. It also offers some reference value for those studying English historical writing or preparing background reading for related courses.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the introductory chapters first to grasp the author's overall interpretive framework, then move into the narrative of the war
  2. Mark the author's evaluative statements as you read, and review his stance systematically afterward
  3. Read alongside a modern history of the American Revolution and compare their narrative choices
  4. The English text is long; read it in blocks by war phase and keep a timeline of notes

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

Is this book suitable as an introduction to the history of the American Revolution? It can serve as a narrative introduction. Fiske's writing is coherent and attentive to political and military developments, helping readers build an overall framework. But it was written in the nineteenth century, and its views and sources carry the limitations of its time. It is best read alongside a modern general history so that its judgments are not taken as settled fact.
Are the facts and views in the book outdated today? The basic sequence of events remains useful for reference, but the interpretive framework, evaluations of figures, and narrative stance carry a clear nineteenth-century national narrative coloring and differ from the concerns of contemporary historiography. Treat it as historiographical material and an introductory narrative, and check key judgments against modern scholarship.
How difficult is the original English edition to read? The language is nineteenth-century written English, with long sentences and dense paragraphs, but it is not packed with technical jargon. Readers with university-level English can get through it with a dictionary; if you only want a summary of the facts, you might first read a modern Chinese overview and then return to selected key chapters.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Fiske, John, 1842-1901 Author

Fiske, John (1842–1901) was a nineteenth-century American historian and writer of popular philosophy, with 19 works held in this collection. His historical writing focuses mainly on early American history and the founding era, including The Beginnings of New England, The Critical Period of American History, The War of Independence, and the two-volume Old Virginia and Her Neighbours. These works emphasize fluent narrative and the arrangement of historical sources, and are addressed to general readers rather than scholars alone. On philosophy and religion he wrote The Idea of God as Affected by Modern Knowledge and The Destiny of Man, Viewed in the Light of His Origin, attempting to discuss faith and the human condition in terms of the scientific knowledge of his day. He also produced civic-education works such as Civil Government in the United States. His clear, popular style gave his books wide circulation among late nineteenth-century American readers; because public information is limited, biographical details are not elaborated here.