Description: From the first shots fired at Lexington to the negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, Ellis guides readers through the decisive issues of the nation's founding. The author strips the mythic veneer of America's iconic founders to reveal men possessed of both brilliance and blindness.
Review Quotes:
"Illuminating. . . . Compelling. . . . Focuses on a series of key moments: most notably, Valley Forge, the standoff between the Federalists and their opponents, [and] the consequences [of] the Louisiana Purchase on slavery and the treatment of Indians." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"[Ellis] is a storyteller, and a superb one . . . no historian is better at making a complicated jumble of events clear and comprehensible." --The New York Review of Books
"Illuminating . . . entertaining. . . . Ellis has done us a great service." --The New York Times Book Review
"Delightful. . . . Ellis is the reigning master of the episodic approach to history." --The Boston Globe