What do you think?
Rate this book
1776 Year of Illusions
Provides a close-up, illustrated study of a pivotal year in American and world history, as a group of American patriots draws up a Declaration of Independence and a military force, under the leadership of George Washington, embarks on a quest for freedom.
525 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1996
139 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Fleming
127 books148 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Thomas James Fleming was an historian and historical novelist, with a special interest in the American Revolution. He was born in 1927 in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a World War I hero who was a leader in Jersey City politics for three decades. Before her marriage, his mother, Katherine Dolan Fleming, was a teacher in the Jersey City Public School System.
After graduating from St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, Fleming spent a year in the United States Navy. He received a Bachelor's degree, with honors, from Fordham University in 1950. After brief stints as a newspaperman and magazine editor, he became a full-time writer in 1960. His first history book, Now We Are Enemies, an account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, was published that same year. It was a best-seller, reviewed in more than 75 newspapers and featured as a main selection of the Literary Guild.
Fleming published books about various events and figures of the Revolutionary era. He also wrote about other periods of American history and wrote over a dozen well-received novels set against various historical backgrounds. He said, "I never wanted to be an Irish American writer, my whole idea was to get across that bridge and be an American writer".
Fleming died at his home in New York City on July 23, 2017, at the age of 90.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Thomas James Fleming was an historian and historical novelist, with a special interest in the American Revolution. He was born in 1927 in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of a World War I hero who was a leader in Jersey City politics for three decades. Before her marriage, his mother, Katherine Dolan Fleming, was a teacher in the Jersey City Public School System.
After graduating from St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, Fleming spent a year in the United States Navy. He received a Bachelor's degree, with honors, from Fordham University in 1950. After brief stints as a newspaperman and magazine editor, he became a full-time writer in 1960. His first history book, Now We Are Enemies, an account of the Battle of Bunker Hill, was published that same year. It was a best-seller, reviewed in more than 75 newspapers and featured as a main selection of the Literary Guild.
Fleming published books about various events and figures of the Revolutionary era. He also wrote about other periods of American history and wrote over a dozen well-received novels set against various historical backgrounds. He said, "I never wanted to be an Irish American writer, my whole idea was to get across that bridge and be an American writer".
Fleming died at his home in New York City on July 23, 2017, at the age of 90.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 10, 2013
Many of the myths and illusions Fleming debunks have been known to scholars of the Revolution upwards of fifty years. Still, many of them were potent then and now.
This book explores the events and motives of both sides in the American struggle for independence. And, while the focus is properly placed on the actors in the field, the background deliberations in Philadelphia, London and Paris are not forgotten. The work depends heavily on primary sources of diaries and letters of the participants. Fleming's summary in the last pages is an excellent statement of his thesis and is well done.
On the negative side, the author's opinions and snide asides riddle the book and diminish its credibility. After castigating both sides for believing that the struggle could be deciding by one dramatic action, Fleming avows "he probably could have ended the Revolution that afternoon." (August 28, 1776, p.359) Labeling actions "idiocy" and "ridiculous" may please a popular audience, but it reveals of subjectivism. He sets up straw men, such as "the myth of the omnipotent American rifle," that tumble at his mere suggestion. Fleming decries the eighteenth century Pennsylvania's abandonment of the "hallowed principle" of one man, one vote (p. 302) despite that standard's twentieth century origin. Perhaps Fleming tips his hand when he speculates (p. 467) what an "investigative reporter" might have made of the American conduct of the war. His product reflects the headline-seeking reporter rather than the reflective scholar.
An observation: Fleming reports (p. 215), "By the change in weather on March 5, 'much blood was saved,' [Washington] told his brother John Augustine (Jack) Washington. 'This remarkable interposition of providence is for some wise purpose I have not a doubt.'" Washington won a battle by default which he would rather have fought (and possibly lost) by main force. Interestingly, Washington's great "victory" at Yorktown five years later was the same sort of non-battle. By then he was content.
Solid, scholarly work marred by a breathless, emotional presentation. Still, a good read.
This book explores the events and motives of both sides in the American struggle for independence. And, while the focus is properly placed on the actors in the field, the background deliberations in Philadelphia, London and Paris are not forgotten. The work depends heavily on primary sources of diaries and letters of the participants. Fleming's summary in the last pages is an excellent statement of his thesis and is well done.
On the negative side, the author's opinions and snide asides riddle the book and diminish its credibility. After castigating both sides for believing that the struggle could be deciding by one dramatic action, Fleming avows "he probably could have ended the Revolution that afternoon." (August 28, 1776, p.359) Labeling actions "idiocy" and "ridiculous" may please a popular audience, but it reveals of subjectivism. He sets up straw men, such as "the myth of the omnipotent American rifle," that tumble at his mere suggestion. Fleming decries the eighteenth century Pennsylvania's abandonment of the "hallowed principle" of one man, one vote (p. 302) despite that standard's twentieth century origin. Perhaps Fleming tips his hand when he speculates (p. 467) what an "investigative reporter" might have made of the American conduct of the war. His product reflects the headline-seeking reporter rather than the reflective scholar.
An observation: Fleming reports (p. 215), "By the change in weather on March 5, 'much blood was saved,' [Washington] told his brother John Augustine (Jack) Washington. 'This remarkable interposition of providence is for some wise purpose I have not a doubt.'" Washington won a battle by default which he would rather have fought (and possibly lost) by main force. Interestingly, Washington's great "victory" at Yorktown five years later was the same sort of non-battle. By then he was content.
Solid, scholarly work marred by a breathless, emotional presentation. Still, a good read.
September 7, 2022
Too sprawling and uneven in quality for its own good. This is regrettable because I've read better books by Fleming.
July 27, 2024
The Power of Reality over Myth
Seventeen seventy-six leads the reader through a riveting, myth-busting tour of America's seminal year that leaves one with awe at what can prevail when virtually all hope has been abandoned by virtually everyone. The fumbling, confused, arrogant, and naive conduct of so many of our nation's earliest leaders is barely outdone by those same qualities demonstrated by the British. The frailty of the first Americans and their humble circumstances makes our sheer existence, to say nothing of the present juggernaut we call the United States, a truly incredible story. Above all, as the author points out in his closing remarks, it is a tremendous source of encouragement precisely because the nation's success continues to be so filled with human weakness and bitter contention. It is a compelling macro and micro view of this singular year, placing you in the midst of smelling the hell of having lived through or died from this monumental struggle while clearly explaining why it holds such global significance. A great and powerful story brilliantly told.
Seventeen seventy-six leads the reader through a riveting, myth-busting tour of America's seminal year that leaves one with awe at what can prevail when virtually all hope has been abandoned by virtually everyone. The fumbling, confused, arrogant, and naive conduct of so many of our nation's earliest leaders is barely outdone by those same qualities demonstrated by the British. The frailty of the first Americans and their humble circumstances makes our sheer existence, to say nothing of the present juggernaut we call the United States, a truly incredible story. Above all, as the author points out in his closing remarks, it is a tremendous source of encouragement precisely because the nation's success continues to be so filled with human weakness and bitter contention. It is a compelling macro and micro view of this singular year, placing you in the midst of smelling the hell of having lived through or died from this monumental struggle while clearly explaining why it holds such global significance. A great and powerful story brilliantly told.
July 29, 2014
Good, balanced coverage of what was, perhaps, the most important year in the American struggle for independence. Fleming explodes some myths — that the majority of Americans supported independence, that the Revolutionary War was won by guerilla warfare. He focuses less on G. Washington as an individual and more on Washington in the context of the whole period. Fleming also puts the War in the context of all of the politics, economics, court intrigue of the period in American, England, France, Spain, and the West Indies. In terms of the war itself, he points out that the Howe brothers were not intent on destroying the American military but woeing them into submission and back into the empire. He also points out where failings on the part of both British and American military played into the outcome of the war. Essentially, until the 1776 battle of Trenton (Crossing of the Delaware), English mistakes and overconfidence were their downfall.
December 10, 2015
This is the story of a year, 1776. It opens with the failed assault on Quebec and ends with the battles of Trenton and Princeton. In between, there are the politics of the colonies, Britain, and France; the impact of the West Indies; the battles of Charleston, around New York, and Valcour Island; the Declaration of Independence; and the Howes' peace initiative. There is a lot of detail and more names than can be remembered. I especially came away with an increased understanding of Lords North and Germaine, how the battles around New York played out, the importance of the West Indies, and why the Howe brothers did not easily exterminate Washington's army (spoiler: they didn't want to). At times, the author can get a little snide, but that doesn't ruin the book. Big book, lots to learn, and worth the read.
July 20, 2019
Excellent Detail Review of the Year 1776 and the Birth of American Independence
After reading Thomas Fleming's excellent detailed review of 1776, one has to wonder how the American Colonies ever achieved Independence, given all of the competing issues from foreign interest to 13 separate Colonies, to concerned individuals involved at every level of the extreme conflicts, personal and public, not to mention the extreme conditions in waging war and competing reconsiliation efforts.
After reading Thomas Fleming's excellent detailed review of 1776, one has to wonder how the American Colonies ever achieved Independence, given all of the competing issues from foreign interest to 13 separate Colonies, to concerned individuals involved at every level of the extreme conflicts, personal and public, not to mention the extreme conditions in waging war and competing reconsiliation efforts.
August 14, 2013
A good and unconventionally organized analysis of the factors leading to American's declaration of independence and the first year of the war that was also very nearly the last year. This book focuses on many neglected historical aspects of the war, including British homeland policy, French diplomacy and intervention, Hessian recruitment, the campaign for Canada, intercolonial squabbles, forgotten founding fathers, and an American submarine developed 150 years before the U-boat.
September 29, 2013
Fleming has done it again. Length but deservingly worth it. When I put it down, I looked forward to picking it up again. Rich with well researched details. The only suggestion is to include maps in the book to lend geographic context to the battles and troop movements. Never-the-less, very revealing. A definite addition to my library as a historic reference.
May 2, 2014
interesting
I had not realized how few troops Washington had to fight the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed learning how many differing ideas, political notions, and factions interacted to create our country. I came away from this book shaking my head and wondering how we won that war.
I had not realized how few troops Washington had to fight the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed learning how many differing ideas, political notions, and factions interacted to create our country. I came away from this book shaking my head and wondering how we won that war.
May 25, 2010
I could hardly put this book down, a fascinating read from the page one. This book does away with all the myths about the American revolution, and tells the reader how things really happened.
Boy, are we lucky...
Boy, are we lucky...
November 28, 2013
This has been one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read., bar none. I usually stick to fiction but this one caught my eye and I have no regrets about reading it. It's not real quick read but it does flow like a novel.
August 30, 2016
Satisfying history of the year of liberty
I chose this rating because of the sometimes confusing timelines. In general this book would be good for amateur historians, and would be an excellent choice for an undergraduate seminar.
I chose this rating because of the sometimes confusing timelines. In general this book would be good for amateur historians, and would be an excellent choice for an undergraduate seminar.
August 26, 2015
Another wonderful history piece
The story told without blinders or apology of a time when chaos reigned. Shows all parties strengths and weaknesses in spades!
The story told without blinders or apology of a time when chaos reigned. Shows all parties strengths and weaknesses in spades!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews