American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic

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National Bestseller Acclaimed historian Joseph J. Ellis brings his unparalleled talents to this riveting account of the early years of the Republic. The last quarter of the eighteenth century remains the most politically creative era in American history, when a dedicated group of men undertook a bold experiment in political ideals. It was a time of both triumphs and tragedies-all of which contributed to the shaping of our burgeoning nation. Ellis casts an incisive eye on the gradual pace of the American Revolution and the contributions of such luminaries as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, and brilliantly analyzes the failures of the founders to adequately solve the problems of slavery and the treatment of Native Americans. With accessible prose and stunning eloquence, Ellis delineates in American Creation an era of flawed greatness, at a time when understanding our origins is more important than ever.

Reviews

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

Author Bio

JOSEPH J. ELLIS is the author of many works of American history includingFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize; andAmerican Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson,which won the National Book Award. He recently retired from his position as the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife and their youngest son.