1774 Audiobook By Mary Beth Norton cover art

1774

The Long Year of Revolution

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1774

By: Mary Beth Norton
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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About this listen

From one of our most acclaimed and original colonial historians, a groundbreaking book - the first to look at the critical "long year" of 1774 and the revolutionary change that took place from December 1773 to mid-April 1775, from the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2020

Mary Beth Norton keenly focuses on the 16 months during which the traditional loyalists to King George III began their discordant "discussions" that led to their acceptance of the inevitability of war against the British Empire and to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775.

Drawing extensively on pamphlets, newspapers, and personal correspondence, Norton reconstructs colonial political discourse as it happened, showing the vigorous campaign mounted by conservatives criticizing congressional actions. But by then it was too late. In early 1775, governors throughout the colonies informed colonial officials in London that they were unable to thwart the increasing power of the committees and their allied provincial congresses. Although the Declaration of Independence would not be formally adopted until July 1776, Americans, even before the outbreak of war in April 1775, had in effect "declared independence" by obeying the decrees of their new provincial governments rather than colonial officials.

©2020 Mary Beth Norton (P)2020 Random House Audio
18th Century Colonial Period Revolution & Founding United States Imperialism King Royalty War
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Critic reviews

"Deeply researched...Norton makes a good case for considering 1774 and not 1776 to be the foundational year of the new republic." (Kirkus)

"Meticulous and persuasive.... Norton brings underappreciated figures such as Pennsylvania lawyer John Dickinson to the fore, and elucidates complex developments in all 13 colonies. This ambitious deep dive will remind readers that America has a long history of building consensus out of fractious disputes." (Publishers Weekly)