Independence, John Ferling
Independence, John Ferling
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Independence
The Struggle to Set America Free

Author: John Ferling

Narrator: Robert Fass

Unabridged: 16 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/22/2011

Synopsis

No event in American history was more pivotal—or more furiously contested—than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies together was like getting "thirteen clocks to strike at once."

Other books have been written about the Declaration of Independence, but no author has traced the political journey from protest to revolution with the narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes listeners from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost.

At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls "a national resource."

About John Ferling

John Ferling is a professor emeritus of history at the State University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he is the author of a number of books, including Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800; The First of Men: A Life of George Washington; and the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. His recent work Almost a Miracle was a history bestseller.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on March 12, 2020

There was nothing inevitable about it, American independence, that is. Ferling's book shows the events that from 1763 to July, 1776 pushed the American colonies to declare themselves an independent American republic. Perhaps it was much too much to expect the British government to have the foresight......more

Goodreads review by Scott on December 01, 2015

This is an excellent account of the years leading up to the Declaration of Independence. There were quite a few surprises--things I'd never learned or had forgotten in the years since I learned it in school. Perhaps the most surprising was just how close we came to not declaring independence. I didn......more

Goodreads review by Rindis on September 01, 2020

As of February, 1775, Massachusetts was declared to be in a state of rebellion to the British government. Just under a year and a half later, the Thirteen Colonies jointly declared themselves independent. This was an event that was by no means obvious or considered likely in February 1775, and John F......more

Goodreads review by John on July 11, 2024

Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free covers events from 1763 to 1776. John Ferling shows the debates in Congress and in Parliament. There were those in Parliament such as Edmund Burke that argued that there should be peace between the American Colonies and Great Britain, but their words fe......more

Goodreads review by Gary on October 25, 2011

I found this to be a very interesting book. Rather than concentrating on the military aspects of the struggle for independence, it focuses on intellectual developments. It was a struggle for Americans to free themselves from thinking that they were the king's subjects and it was only the stubborn un......more

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