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| The Glorious Cause | 
| Author: Jeff Shaara
Publisher: Fawcett
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.95
You Save: $7.04 (88%)
New (31) from $3.68
Avg. Customer Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 9675
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 704
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0345427580
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345427588
ASIN: 0345427580
Publication Date: June 3, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
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Product Description
In Rise to Rebellion, bestselling author Jeff Shaara captured the origins of the American Revolution as brilliantly as he depicted the Civil War in Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. Now he continues the amazing saga of how thirteen colonies became a nation, taking the conflict from kingdom and courtroom to the bold and bloody battlefields of war.
It was never a war in which the outcome was obvious. Despite their spirit and stamina, the colonists were outmanned and outfought by the brazen British army. General George Washington found his troops trounced in the battles of Brooklyn and Manhattan and retreated toward Pennsylvania. With the future of the colonies at its lowest ebb, Washington made his most fateful decision: to cross the Delaware River and attack the enemy. The stunning victory at Trenton began a saga of victory and defeat that concluded with the British surrender at Yorktown, a moment that changed the history of the world.
The despair and triumph of America’s first great army is conveyed in scenes as powerful as any Shaara has written, a story told from the points of view of some of the most memorable characters in American history. There is George Washington, the charismatic leader who held his army together to achieve an unlikely victory; Charles Cornwallis, the no-nonsense British general, more than a match for his colonial counterpart; Nathaniel Greene, who rose from obscurity to become the finest battlefield commander in Washington’s army; The Marquis de Lafayette, the young Frenchman who brought a soldier’s passion to America; and Benjamin Franklin, a brilliant man of science and philosophy who became the finest statesman of his day.
From Nathan Hale to Benedict Arnold, William Howe to “Light Horse” Harry Lee, from Trenton and Valley Forge, Brandywine and Yorktown, the American Revolution’s most immortal characters and poignant moments are brought to life in remarkable Shaara style. Yet, The Glorious Cause is more than just a story of the legendary six-year struggle. It is a tribute to an amazing people who turned ideas into action and fought to declare themselves free. Above all, it is a riveting novel that both expands and surpasses its beloved author’s best work.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 64 more reviews...
 The Glorious Cause August 16, 2008
The product was exactly as listed. The CD was a pleasure to listen to. The ebay dealer was timely in the delivery. The condition of the prodict was very good. I am well satisfied. Thank you.
The Glorious Cause June 11, 2008
This is a very well written book. If all the information is accurate,it should be taught in the school system. It brings the period to life.
The Glorious Cause June 8, 2008
Great way to learn the history of the revolutionary war. Makes history fun and exciting.
AWESOME! February 12, 2008
I could hardly put this book down. I am not a big reader...I usually read a few pages before I fall asleep. Not this book, I couldn't put it down. I was even pregnant with our 3rd child and very tired, but I still had to read it and stayed up way too late many a nights! I love how he portrays the characters and makes history come alive.
 Vastly Over Rated January 15, 2008
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was surprised at how bad this book was; Shaara has such an avid following. There are so many things wrong with this book I hardly know where to begin. Shaara writes things that he seems not to have even thought about. For example, on the march toward Philadelphia he has Cornwallis riding through a downpour while getting bit by mosquitoes. I live in the area and I know the type of spring downpour described. I also know the irritation of the mosquitoes. I have never known them at the same time. Perhaps the mosquitoes 230 years ago were tougher and flew around during rain storms.
Another example of the unthoughtful writing? How about when Nate green is climbing a hill to view the British fleet at anchor in NY bay. It is an East Coast summer and very hot and humid. Green's shirt is soaked with sweat and cold. Cold? Has Shaara ever climbed a hill and broken a sweat? Your shirt is not cold; it is hot. The shirt doesn't turn cold or clammy until after you stop and rest at the top of the hill for awhile.
It is not just lousy writing that makes this book bad. The story is told through the eyes of the major characters: Washington, Green, Franklin and Cornwallis. The effect is little better than a high school history with a few quotes thrown in to make it a novel. Shaara's occasional attempts to dramatize the story fail. His description of the unnamed prisoner aboard the hulk Jersey is ersatz pathos. (For a good dramatization of the life of a POW 200 years ago go read The Lively Lady by Kenneth Roberts.) The aside about Molly Pitcher is a little better, but is still not evocative. Shaara totally fails to take the reader to the time or place he describes.
Perhaps worst of all, Shaara often gets the history wrong. I'm not talking about the sort of compression or alteration used by novelists. I'm talking about just plain wrong. For example, Shaara has Washington go to Philadelphia at the end of his service to resign his commission to Congress. Washington did not go to Philadelphia to do this for the very understandable reason that Congress was sitting in Annapolis at this time and that is where Washington went.
The book highlights a question I have always had: why do the British do historical fiction so much better than Americans? Redcoat by Cornwall does a better job of bringing 1777 alive than anything in Shaara. Where is our O'Brian? We've got the history, just not the authors.
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