What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bold and Magnificent Dream
The Cattons, popular-historian father & academic-historian son, offer "a combination of narrative & interpretive essay" on early America that seeks "not to break new ground but to impose our own thoughts & order upon conventional historical material." The book's building blocks are the European background of settlement, colonial growth, the revolution, the adoption of the Constitution, the emergence of political parties & the War of 1812. The authors are familiar with much of the pertinent & recent historical literature. Their facts are consistently accurate & their evaluation of the individual historical components of their story are sensible. But their broad interpretive overlay is little more than a rehash of the old patriotic, Whiggish account of the inexorable development of America as a land of democracy & material opportunity (except for blacks & Indians) & of Americans as an individualistic & hard-working people. Intrinsic to this genre is retrospective history, & the authors see in the early 18th-century colonial societies the seeds of everything from Lexington & Concord to the rise of industry. But, to their credit, the Cattons are willing to confront facts that do not strictly conform to the traditional outlines of the American dream story. They note, for example, that England practiced religious toleration before the colonies & that most indentured servants never achieved material success. Consequently, the book has the major virtue of textbook reliability (& the concomitant flaw of textbook staleness) couched, for everyday history buffs, in dramatic, colloquial prose.--Kirkus (edited)
544 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
5 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Catton
374 books313 followersBruce Catton was a distinguished American historian and journalist, best known for his influential writings on the American Civil War. Renowned for his narrative style, Catton brought history to life through richly drawn characters, vivid battlefield descriptions, and a deep understanding of the political and emotional forces that shaped the era. His accessible yet meticulously researched books made him one of the most popular historians of the twentieth century.
Born in Petoskey, Michigan, and raised in the small town of Benzonia, Catton grew up surrounded by Civil War veterans whose personal stories sparked a lifelong fascination with the conflict. Though he briefly attended Oberlin College, Catton left during World War I and served in the U.S. Navy. He later began a career in journalism, working as a reporter, editor, and Washington correspondent. His experience in government service during World War II inspired his first book, The War Lords of Washington (1948).
Catton achieved national acclaim with his Army of the Potomac trilogy—Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951), Glory Road (1952), and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)—the last of which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award. He went on to publish a second trilogy, The Centennial History of the Civil War, and contributed two volumes to a biography of Ulysses S. Grant, begun by Lloyd Lewis. His other notable works include This Hallowed Ground, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, and Waiting for the Morning Train, a memoir of his Michigan boyhood.
In 1954, Catton became the founding editor of American Heritage magazine, further shaping the public’s understanding of U.S. history. In 1977, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Catton’s legacy endures through his vivid portrayals of America’s most defining conflict and his enduring influence on historical writing.
Born in Petoskey, Michigan, and raised in the small town of Benzonia, Catton grew up surrounded by Civil War veterans whose personal stories sparked a lifelong fascination with the conflict. Though he briefly attended Oberlin College, Catton left during World War I and served in the U.S. Navy. He later began a career in journalism, working as a reporter, editor, and Washington correspondent. His experience in government service during World War II inspired his first book, The War Lords of Washington (1948).
Catton achieved national acclaim with his Army of the Potomac trilogy—Mr. Lincoln’s Army (1951), Glory Road (1952), and A Stillness at Appomattox (1953)—the last of which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award. He went on to publish a second trilogy, The Centennial History of the Civil War, and contributed two volumes to a biography of Ulysses S. Grant, begun by Lloyd Lewis. His other notable works include This Hallowed Ground, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, and Waiting for the Morning Train, a memoir of his Michigan boyhood.
In 1954, Catton became the founding editor of American Heritage magazine, further shaping the public’s understanding of U.S. history. In 1977, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Catton’s legacy endures through his vivid portrayals of America’s most defining conflict and his enduring influence on historical writing.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2025
Bruce Catton was the editor of my favorite publication growing up in the '60s- the (then) hardcover monthly, "American Heritage". It was filled with articles by academics, and lavishly illustrated. I still have dozens of copies on my bookshelves today, harvested from my parents' home when they downsized for moving.
It is still published today but in a soft-cover, dumbed-down version.
Catton personally wrote many books on the Civil War such as "The Coming Fury, "Mr. Lincoln's Army", and "A Stillness at Appomattox", to cite a few examples among many.
I recently discovered his final book, published in 1978, long after I had moved on from my adolescent reading - "The Bold and Magnificent Dream". The title seems a little awkward today, but the content is fascinating, and truly fills some gaping holes in my understanding of the early history of the US. It starts with the pre-Columbus views and attitudes of the European discoverers, then moves through the Colonial, Revolutionary and post-Revoluationary periods. He focuses throughout on the distinctions between the many differing religious groups, attitudes toward both the indigenous Indians and black slavery, and the emergence of political parties after George Washington completed his service as first President.
The book seems as fresh today as when Catton wrote it, and really provides a base of understanding of why we are at where we are today. Highly recommended.
It is still published today but in a soft-cover, dumbed-down version.
Catton personally wrote many books on the Civil War such as "The Coming Fury, "Mr. Lincoln's Army", and "A Stillness at Appomattox", to cite a few examples among many.
I recently discovered his final book, published in 1978, long after I had moved on from my adolescent reading - "The Bold and Magnificent Dream". The title seems a little awkward today, but the content is fascinating, and truly fills some gaping holes in my understanding of the early history of the US. It starts with the pre-Columbus views and attitudes of the European discoverers, then moves through the Colonial, Revolutionary and post-Revoluationary periods. He focuses throughout on the distinctions between the many differing religious groups, attitudes toward both the indigenous Indians and black slavery, and the emergence of political parties after George Washington completed his service as first President.
The book seems as fresh today as when Catton wrote it, and really provides a base of understanding of why we are at where we are today. Highly recommended.
January 13, 2012
I thought this would be a repeat of what I already knew. No. Published in 1978 by one of the outstanding authors of this generation it examines the founding of the United States from the time of Columbus's discovery of America, to the end of the War of 1812. It shows how improbable it was for a free nation, a world power to arise from that situation. I never knew why the War of 1812 was important to the country but it wasn’t until that victory that America truly achieved independence and unity as a nation. The authors were as awed as our religious leaders as how such strong leaders arose at the right time to make it happen. Wonderful book. So well written.
May 25, 2017
I rate this 5 stars for it is worth keeping for reference. The Bold and Magnificent Dream compresses 323 years of history into 530 pages of historical narrative and analysis with a bibliography, maps and an index. If you tolerated the study of history and remember it only as a memorization of names of explorers, military leaders and statesmen along with the dates of discovery and battles before testing, this book provides an excellent opportunity to read the story of history. There are no footnotes within the text to jar the reader from the story. Occasionally an unfamiliar word sent this reader to my dictionary where I learned the definition of a precise word.
Reading this book reminds me we Americans have a long history of political debate about how to fund a central government which became the federal government. The question of should a state militia be used to invade Canada during the skirmishes in the War of 1812 makes me wonder how we got to the point of using our national guard to provide support in current wars/military actions much farther away.
Reading this book reminds me we Americans have a long history of political debate about how to fund a central government which became the federal government. The question of should a state militia be used to invade Canada during the skirmishes in the War of 1812 makes me wonder how we got to the point of using our national guard to provide support in current wars/military actions much farther away.
April 30, 2021
Like the country whose founding it describes, this book is imperfect. Yet the country has many great things about it, and the book has a few.
It was the work of Bruce Catton, a preeminent historical writer on the Civil War, with his son William, an academic historian. The book was published just before Bruce Catton’s death in 1978.
Though written in a fluid and at times beautiful style, the text is roughly edited, with chronological zigzags and parenthetical remarks. Needed portraits of some of the founding fathers are either missing (Jefferson) or too brief (Adams) or incomplete (Franklin). Equally disappointing, there is little description of the daily living conditions of early immigrants, whether pilgrims, settlers, or slaves.
However, the book does address slavery itself and its foundations. A searching chapter explores the origins of English racism in ignorance, stereotypes, fear, and cultural difference. As slavery grew rapidly in the plantation-based South, it deepened racial prejudices. Early slave owners resisted exposing their slaves to Christianity because they did not want to admit that black people had souls.
The Cattons do not dwell on the physical traumas of slavery, but they deliver a prophetic insight about the impact of this curse upon the country.
“...for the black man, [the result was a] life sentence for himself and all his progeny… in a social system that placed him at the absolute bottom of the pyramid, surrounded him with barriers of caste…, and reminded him in every way…, from birth to grave, that he was where he was by virtue of his color, which in turn was a badge of congenital and immutable inferiority.”
As for native Americans, the book does not describe the characteristics of named tribes that were a part of this history. But it does address clearly their manipulation by the French and then the British against the Americans; the natives’ own occasional brutality; and the callous disregard shown to them by the American military, as well as some settlers.
Despite its imperfections and the book’s need to address painful issues, its several strengths shine through.
The early chapters provide a valuable reminder that for well over a century, America was a branch of European civilization. Post-Renaissance Europe was in an era of political change, with the rise of centralized nation-states; of growing economies and populations; and of rapid technological development, including everything to do with oceangoing navigation. From this milieu emerged the heroic explorers and courageous pioneers who found and settled a new land. At the same time, the colonial impulse took root – springing variously from love of adventure, ambition for glory and power, missionary zeal, avarice, as well as an “Arcadian yearning” to find a better, less troubled world.
Later on in the story, as one would expect from the Cattons, their narration of the wars of independence and 1812 are excellent. Through the twists and turns, one sees the pattern of English hesitation to go for the jugular at key moments – such as General Carleton’s failure in October, 1776 to get his troops from Canada to the Hudson, link up with Howe’s army in New York, and cut the Americans in two: a failure repeated one year later by General Burgoyne and his force of 6,000 that surrendered at Saratoga, near Albany; and Cornwallis’s neglecting to pursue and counterattack Washington’s forces after their victories at Trenton and Princeton.
The Americans seemed to have luck on their side. But luck had little to do with it. Their successes were the result of determination, brilliance, and aggressive fighting by armed civilians and regulars that came “straight from the hearts of people who had been aroused beyond the point of restraint.” These achievements included the immortal midnight crossing of the icy Delaware to attack unprepared German mercenaries in Trenton (Christmas, 1776), and Washington’s lightning move from the Hudson to Chesapeake Bay in 1781 to take advantage of Cornwallis’s isolation by a French naval fleet – thus winning the war.
This result also benefited from Benjamin Franklin’s equally determined and brilliant diplomacy in Paris, which secured critical strategic support.
Through the entire war of independence, from beginning to end and beyond, rode the greatest of the great: the Cattons capture well the dignity and power of George Washington’s leadership. Without him, our country would not exist.
The book’s most valuable insights shed light on the emergence of the American mind, values, and spirit which broke away from those of England as did the thirteen States.
The Americans valued freedom. They respected success earned through individual hard work of any kind in a mobile society. They despised special privilege and rejected hereditary aristocracy. Living in a huge, open continent, they expected growth and ever-expanding opportunities. And after independence, they adopted optimism as a “prime American trait”.
Although the Cattons have much to say about patriots in the war for independence, they never mention “patriotism” in connection with American values. They don’t need to. Their book breathes patriotism on every page. From Plymouth and Salem to Concord and Philadelphia, to America’s first capital – New York – their work expresses the spirit and values that make America different, that make it worth fighting and dying for.
To this day, people of every race and background worldwide endure great risks and costs to be able to share in the unlimited opportunities this nation makes possible.
It was the work of Bruce Catton, a preeminent historical writer on the Civil War, with his son William, an academic historian. The book was published just before Bruce Catton’s death in 1978.
Though written in a fluid and at times beautiful style, the text is roughly edited, with chronological zigzags and parenthetical remarks. Needed portraits of some of the founding fathers are either missing (Jefferson) or too brief (Adams) or incomplete (Franklin). Equally disappointing, there is little description of the daily living conditions of early immigrants, whether pilgrims, settlers, or slaves.
However, the book does address slavery itself and its foundations. A searching chapter explores the origins of English racism in ignorance, stereotypes, fear, and cultural difference. As slavery grew rapidly in the plantation-based South, it deepened racial prejudices. Early slave owners resisted exposing their slaves to Christianity because they did not want to admit that black people had souls.
The Cattons do not dwell on the physical traumas of slavery, but they deliver a prophetic insight about the impact of this curse upon the country.
“...for the black man, [the result was a] life sentence for himself and all his progeny… in a social system that placed him at the absolute bottom of the pyramid, surrounded him with barriers of caste…, and reminded him in every way…, from birth to grave, that he was where he was by virtue of his color, which in turn was a badge of congenital and immutable inferiority.”
As for native Americans, the book does not describe the characteristics of named tribes that were a part of this history. But it does address clearly their manipulation by the French and then the British against the Americans; the natives’ own occasional brutality; and the callous disregard shown to them by the American military, as well as some settlers.
Despite its imperfections and the book’s need to address painful issues, its several strengths shine through.
The early chapters provide a valuable reminder that for well over a century, America was a branch of European civilization. Post-Renaissance Europe was in an era of political change, with the rise of centralized nation-states; of growing economies and populations; and of rapid technological development, including everything to do with oceangoing navigation. From this milieu emerged the heroic explorers and courageous pioneers who found and settled a new land. At the same time, the colonial impulse took root – springing variously from love of adventure, ambition for glory and power, missionary zeal, avarice, as well as an “Arcadian yearning” to find a better, less troubled world.
Later on in the story, as one would expect from the Cattons, their narration of the wars of independence and 1812 are excellent. Through the twists and turns, one sees the pattern of English hesitation to go for the jugular at key moments – such as General Carleton’s failure in October, 1776 to get his troops from Canada to the Hudson, link up with Howe’s army in New York, and cut the Americans in two: a failure repeated one year later by General Burgoyne and his force of 6,000 that surrendered at Saratoga, near Albany; and Cornwallis’s neglecting to pursue and counterattack Washington’s forces after their victories at Trenton and Princeton.
The Americans seemed to have luck on their side. But luck had little to do with it. Their successes were the result of determination, brilliance, and aggressive fighting by armed civilians and regulars that came “straight from the hearts of people who had been aroused beyond the point of restraint.” These achievements included the immortal midnight crossing of the icy Delaware to attack unprepared German mercenaries in Trenton (Christmas, 1776), and Washington’s lightning move from the Hudson to Chesapeake Bay in 1781 to take advantage of Cornwallis’s isolation by a French naval fleet – thus winning the war.
This result also benefited from Benjamin Franklin’s equally determined and brilliant diplomacy in Paris, which secured critical strategic support.
Through the entire war of independence, from beginning to end and beyond, rode the greatest of the great: the Cattons capture well the dignity and power of George Washington’s leadership. Without him, our country would not exist.
The book’s most valuable insights shed light on the emergence of the American mind, values, and spirit which broke away from those of England as did the thirteen States.
The Americans valued freedom. They respected success earned through individual hard work of any kind in a mobile society. They despised special privilege and rejected hereditary aristocracy. Living in a huge, open continent, they expected growth and ever-expanding opportunities. And after independence, they adopted optimism as a “prime American trait”.
Although the Cattons have much to say about patriots in the war for independence, they never mention “patriotism” in connection with American values. They don’t need to. Their book breathes patriotism on every page. From Plymouth and Salem to Concord and Philadelphia, to America’s first capital – New York – their work expresses the spirit and values that make America different, that make it worth fighting and dying for.
To this day, people of every race and background worldwide endure great risks and costs to be able to share in the unlimited opportunities this nation makes possible.
August 10, 2013
This book is not up to the standards set by its senior author, Bruce Catton, perhaps because his coauthor and son, William Bruce Catton, is an academic historian, perhaps because the father simply lacks the compassion evinced in his many books about the American Civil War in dealing with such a broad period of history.
January 30, 2015
Well, this took me a long time to finish. Of course, it did cover from 1492-1815. It didn't always unfold chronologically, and I wasn't a fan of that. I found the last 1/4 -1/3 of the book much more interesting, perhaps because i am much more into politics than I was in HS when I last read a general American History book. I love history and it is an adequate foundation for further reading.
July 9, 2011
Like most of Catton's books, this is well-written and researched and accessable for your everyday reader. He does take more of a political and military approach to the subject (as opposed to social, religious, economic), but that is his bread and butter.
February 12, 2022
despite the title, this is *not* a propaganda schtick.
June 29, 2023
Conceived of by the authors (Bruce Catton and his son William Catton, both now deceased) neither as a textbook nor a popular history, but rather as "a combination of narrative and interpretive essay," this book is a unique review of the first 320+ years of the (US) American experiment - from Columbus through colonization, revolution, early expansion, and the War of 1812.
For a book of such tremendous scope and limited space (460-odd pages), I felt it succeeded remarkably well. It is not a deep study, of course, and is - inevitably - uneven in coverage...some topics and people (almost all men, in this history) are covered much more thoroughly than others. But the book flows well and the lack of depth is made up by its astute limning of connections, causes, and consequences.
The book was published in 1978, so I'm sure some recently scholarship is missed. And of course the authors do not subscribe to the modern (and, to me, highly suspect) view of the US being fatally flawed from birth. Though the authors' glasses are not rose-tinted, the reader will not be subjected to (or blessed with, depending upon perspective) relentless condemnations of colonization, the world system, etc. The authors clearly admire the US founders and the founding principles, however incompletely applied, and view the conquest of the continent as inevitable, even if grossly unfair to the native population. That said, even though the book clearly reflects upon slavery as a stain and an abomination, it deserved more emphasis even considering the era of publication.
All things considered, though, the sweeping coverage conveys the formative years of our republic very well. I'm probably more versed than most on this time, though hardly an expert, and I learned (and re-learned) a lot. As mentioned above, the book flows well, and though the language occasionally veers into flowery and abstruse territory, it's far from academic and overall is very readable. I'm picky about maps, and this book was far above average in their frequency, clarity, and usability.
Overall, I recommend the book highly, for casual students of history such as myself.
For a book of such tremendous scope and limited space (460-odd pages), I felt it succeeded remarkably well. It is not a deep study, of course, and is - inevitably - uneven in coverage...some topics and people (almost all men, in this history) are covered much more thoroughly than others. But the book flows well and the lack of depth is made up by its astute limning of connections, causes, and consequences.
The book was published in 1978, so I'm sure some recently scholarship is missed. And of course the authors do not subscribe to the modern (and, to me, highly suspect) view of the US being fatally flawed from birth. Though the authors' glasses are not rose-tinted, the reader will not be subjected to (or blessed with, depending upon perspective) relentless condemnations of colonization, the world system, etc. The authors clearly admire the US founders and the founding principles, however incompletely applied, and view the conquest of the continent as inevitable, even if grossly unfair to the native population. That said, even though the book clearly reflects upon slavery as a stain and an abomination, it deserved more emphasis even considering the era of publication.
All things considered, though, the sweeping coverage conveys the formative years of our republic very well. I'm probably more versed than most on this time, though hardly an expert, and I learned (and re-learned) a lot. As mentioned above, the book flows well, and though the language occasionally veers into flowery and abstruse territory, it's far from academic and overall is very readable. I'm picky about maps, and this book was far above average in their frequency, clarity, and usability.
Overall, I recommend the book highly, for casual students of history such as myself.
February 10, 2019
Dry style made this somewhat slow reading at times.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews