The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789

By: Robert Middlekauff

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.

This panoramic view of the conflict between England and America combines the political and the personal, giving the listener a vivid sense of how the colonists perceived the events of their struggle for independence, from the French and Indian War to “the shot heard round the world”, and the importance the colonists assigned to them.

Praised as “state of the art” and “the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship”, the four new volumes of the Oxford History of the United States – including The Glorious Cause – are narrated with engagingly casual warmth by Robert Fass, who previously read an earlier volume in the series, Empire of Liberty, by Gordon S. Wood.

Please note: The individual volumes of the series have not been published in historical order. The Glorious Cause is number III in The Oxford History of the United States.

Listen to more of the definitive Oxford History of the United States.

©2005 Robert Middlekauff (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

American Revolution

Where does The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Excellent , top 10.

What did you like best about this story?

Gave a strong overview of the all aspects of American life, leading up to and through the revolution.

Have you listened to any of Robert Fass’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The history you have not heard.

Any additional comments?

Excellent source for US history. Since I joined the DAR and am discovering and documenting my many patriot ancestors, I have renewed interest in our history,

The Glorious Cause

Excellent book. Gives a great insight of the period . Excellent time spent trying to better understand this country’s formation during this election year.

Good History of the US Revolution

I realized that I had a pretty large hole in my knowledge about the beginnings of the US. We were all taught 1776 and the Declaration of Independence, but the Constitution wasn't ratified until the late 1780's. What happened during that time? This book filled in the gaps of my knowledge about the American revolution.

If you like American History, try this audio book.

Recently I've been more and more interested in American history. TV documentaries on everything from the American Revolution, the wild west, Civil War, Great Depression, etc..., have been fascinating me. When I went in search of an audio book for the Civil War, this title caught my eye. I started reading up on the book and wisely decided to start at the "beginning". Beginning in quotes because the American history started long before 1763. But this point in time can probably be considered the beginning of the United States. And I'm glad I did.

The book title states it covers the time period of 1763 - 1789, and for the most part it does. There are times when pre 1763 details are given to support an idea the author is explaining, but the majority of the book falls between these years. The events leading up to Lexington / Concord were explored in more detail than I've ever heard. The points of view are not only told from the American side, but from the British as well. From what I can tell, the author tried to do a fair job in telling both sides of the story. In the end of course, the Revolution is justified, as history has seen. Many of the battles are told in great detail, which took me be surprise. The only thing I found lacking were some details of events towards the end of the war and leading to the ratification of the Constitution. Washington being elected to the Presidency is briefly mentioned, but how this came to be wasn't clearly defined is just one example.

Since the ride to and from work is how I listen to my audio books, there are times when certain items are missed unfortunately. This can be quite detrimental to an audio book of this kind due to the sheer number of names, places, dates, documents, etc... that are mentioned within. I believe to fully absorb the content of this book, it would have to be read. Well, by myself anyway, since reading a page helps me retain details; and this book is all about the details.

All in all though, a great book.

Political Junkies' Guide to the American Revolution

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get beyond the headlines into what really happened to start and sustain the American revolution and how the colonies that became independent became a nation. It's highly detailed so at times, it can feel long, but all the details weave together to support the story.

Really put you in the Revolutionary scenes

Comprehensive history of the birth of the United States. Includes all of the unrest, events and skirmishes leading to the Revolutionary War; details of the progression of the war including congressional activities, civilian attitudes, and the movements of both the British and American armies; and the aftermath including the forging of the Constitution and a new national government. It had a good progression, and included looks at the lives of colonists in several circumstances, the soldiers, and their leaders.

Rather more detail in battle tactics and movements than I have ever read before or care to; even some of the descriptions of terrain were beyond me to visualize, not to mention the troop arrangements. Require pictures. But other than that, good.

Was typical of nonfiction history books in many ways, but I liked the storytelling voice used to carry the narration throughout. The narrator was very good and had an appropriate voice - not monotone or sleep inducing. In fact, his intonation and manner of speaking made me think of Neil Patrick Harris quite often (does he have an audiobook pseudonym for history books? Heh)!

Overall good, would be worth revisiting if in need of a refresher, but otherwise satisfied with once.

Excellent

The entire Oxford series is outstanding. As a history buff I can’t praise is book and all of them together enough. I look forward to the upcoming additions.

Well researched with great context and depth

Excellent book about the Revolution with incredible context of the people involved, they did what they did, and how things changed over time. It also does an excellent job of setting norms of the day so we can understand why decisions were made.

Lots of Content

There’s a lot of content in this book. The explanation of individual parts is brief. However, it does a very good job of packing a lot of contents into one book.

A Full Story for the Enthusiast

In gearing up for the upcoming July 4th holiday, I decided to revisit the Colonial effort for Independence. These days I think the hardest thing about finding a book that covers this subject is that politics often comes into play. Either the Founders can do no wrong, and their mission was ordained by Providence, or the story's focus will shift to spotlight the atrocities of the era such as slavery or the incompetence of command decisions. Fair and balanced is something that's difficult to find sometimes.

But that's why this book impressed me. The personalities, the triumphs and tragedies, the tactics, the motivations, and the possible x-factors are played out with an emphasis on fact, assessment, and perspective. The character and backgrounds of the people involved are touched upon, but with just the broad strokes so as to keep the narrative going. What was especially invaluable to me was learning of the mindsets and political entanglements that led to the Boston Massacre and other such preliminaries, giving a more holistic look at events otherwise glossed over in most history classes. When the war is engaged, the logistical problems faced by the Continental Army are examined in terms a lay enthusiast can understand, with politics taking a back seat and filling in gaps.

It could be argued that more detail could go into this book, and while I agree that it does leave a lot to be discovered, this volume is more dense than a simple beginner's history. There is nuance and detail to had here, which makes it an effective overview of the Revolution and its players. Any reader who wants more will be able to know easily what they felt was missing and what they want to delve into further. Again, what impresses me most is the balance. This isn't a dry book of basic facts, even if the battlefield issues occasionally overshadow other parts of the narrative. Where this book excels is by examining the questions and beliefs that we sometimes take for granted, reminding the reader what was at stake in the name of Revolution.