Product Description

A powerful reinterpretation of the founding of America, by a Pulitzer Prize -- winning historian "The creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past four hundred years," declares Walter McDougall in his preface to Freedom Just Around the Corner. With this statement begins McDougall's most ambitious, original, and uncompromising of histories. McDougall marshals the latest scholarship and writes in a style redolent of passion, pathos, and humor in pursuit of truths often obscured in books burdened with political slants.

From the origins of English expansion under Henry VIII to the founding of the United States to the rollicking election of President Andrew Jackson, McDougall rescues from myth or oblivion the brave, brilliant, and flawed people who made America great: women and men, native-born and immigrant; German, Latin, African, and British; as well as farmers, engineers, planters, merchants; Protestants, Freemasons, Catholics, and Jews; and -- last but not least -- the American scofflaws, speculators, rogues, and demagogues.

With an insightful approach to the nearly 250 years spanning America's beginnings, McDougall offers his readers an understanding of the uniqueness of the "American character" and how it has shaped the wide-ranging course of historical events. McDougall explains that Americans have always been in a unique position of enjoying "more opportunity to pursue their ambitions...than any other people in history." Throughout Freedom Just Around the Corner the character of the American people shines, a character built out of a freedom to indulge in the whole panoply of human behavior. The genius behind the success of the United States is founded on the complex, irrepressible American spirit.

A grand narrative rich with new details and insights about colonial and early national history, Freedom Just Around the Corner is the first installment of a trilogy that will eventually bring the story of America up to the present day -- story as epic, bemusing, and brooding as Bob Dylan's "Jokerman," the ballad that inspires its titles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #599118 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Anyone aspiring to write a multivolume history of the U.S. reckons with illustrious predecessors, especially the histories of Daniel Boorstin and Richard Hofstadter (the latter never completed). But those histories were interpretive; they had a particular slant on the past. McDougall's is more explanatory. It provides up-to-date understanding of much that happened in our early history but without a sharply etched point of view. It's thus a bit like a textbook, struggling to keep readers' attention on all it packs in. Fortunately, in this regard it succeeds wonderfully well. Briskly written, deeply researched, fact-filled and satisfyingly wide in its coverage, it's mainly a history of the public attributes of the colonies and early nation—the ethnic and racial groups (including Native Americans), its states, religious denominations, political parties, wars and institutions. There's little social history here or the history of ideas and culture, little about subjects like women, gays, historical myths and memory. But no single history, not even in a projected three volumes, can cover everything. McDougall's particular strength is that he keeps individuals front and center: the work is alive with humans and their struggles and achievements. Pulitzer Prize–winner McDougall (for The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age) says at the start that his theme will be the conditions that made for Americans' world-known "hustling" behavior and mentality. Fortunately, he quickly drops this line. There's a better and more fitting word for people's desire to better their lot: ambition. That's what this book has in full measure. Maps not seen by PW.
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From Bookmarks Magazine
It might be unfashionable these days to embrace “American exceptionalism.” Yet that’s exactly what McDougall, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age, has done, to great acclaim. In revealing “who and why we are what we are,” he has written an imaginative, evenhanded, and masterful history that shows the freedoms—and high costs—of our hustling nation. His impressive research covers all the major events of our first 200 years, plus some; he entertains with humorous, passionate writing. Only historian Foner—competitive, perhaps?—criticizes Freedom’s top-heavy approach and inadequate interpretations. The general consensus: Freedom is an important contribution not only to its field, but to all Americans.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

About the Author
Walter A. McDougall is professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of many books, including the Pulitzer Prize winning . . . the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age and Let the Sea Make a Noise. . . : A History of the North Pacific from Magellan to MacArthur. He lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Informative history
The book is very informative and beautifully written. It tells of our history before "it all started" and encompasses every event that took place and had an impact on the foundation of America, the United States. I'm very pleased with its reading!

Do We Really Need to Know ALL This?
Although McDougal has written exhaustively about the early history of the colonies and United States (exploding some myths and revealing some shocking details), he also tended to exhaust this reader, at least, with unnecessary minutiae. Admittedly, some insights proved enlightening to the particular subject at hand, but although his writing style is inviting, his penchant for detail certainly does not invite me to plow through his coming two volumes--this one being over 600 pages if 87 pages of endnotes (17 percent of the book) are included.

There is SO much information to deal with. One revelation that kept popping up in the book was the seemingly irrational need to be a Freemason. It seems that anyone who was ANYONE had to be a member of this secretive, mysterious, childishly-ritualistic society/fraternity of "ancient origins" that functioned as an old-boys' network and good-luck-charm combo. We're talking Lewis and Clark, John Jacob Astor, Paul Revere, Absalom Jones (priest of the African American Episcopal Church; the African lodge), Thomas Jefferson, (pro-slavery, anti-Indian) Andrew Jackson (not that some of the others were much different), George Washington and most of the state and national politicians and many, many more with aspirations of (or actually) being influential or rich--and this continues to this day.

(How about these tidbits? A married dedicated Quaker/Friend was supposed to have sex only for purposes of procreation--one wonders how often their dedication was sorely tested. And the Puritans didn't allow sex on the Sabbath--between husband and wife, of course--because that was "working" on the Sabbath.)

Another impression (fact) I came away with is that wide political chicanery and shenanigans have been going on since before the beginning of our nation--and also continue to this day! (Of course, this is really NOT news--or endemic to the colonies/United States.)

This nation was built via philosophical arguments, valor, jingoism, racism, equality (for some), land-grabbing (from Britain, Spain, France, native Americans and others)--and the list goes on. And in spite of all these contradictions, the US grew into one of the best republics in the world. And the political, religious, environmental, international, and financial clashes continue. Since the USA survived a very formidable colonial era, it is reasonable to assume it will survive the present dilemmas.

Excellent Research - Great Writing
This is obviously a well researched book. Mr. McDougall does not only a good job of presenting the reader with the actions and prevailing sentiments leading up to the American Revolution, but he also gives more in-depth explanations than you'd find in 'standard' American history books. The motives for revolution were far more complex and varied than the popular conception in this country. Additionally, Mr. McDougall reminds the reader that independence from Britain was not an overwhelming choice for all members of the thirteen colonies. And the author traces the backgrounds of the people who make up those colonies to provide the reason for this. My only (minor) problems with the book were that the included maps did not live up to the quality of the text and I think the author tries a little to hard to make his point that America was built by 'hustlers.' But this is certainly a book I highly recommend for anyone interested in the forming of the country. For a real treat, read it in conjunction with Alan Taylor's American Colonies.
Also recommended: American Colonies by Alan Taylor, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose.