Product Description

Jeff Shaara dazzled readers with his bestselling novels Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure, and Gone for Soldiers. Now the acclaimed author who illuminated the Civil War and the Mexican-American War brilliantly brings to life the American Revolution, creating a superb saga of the men who helped to forge the destiny of a nation.

In 1770, the fuse of revolution is lit by a fateful command??Fire!??as England?s peacekeeping mission ignites into the Boston Massacre. The senseless killing of civilians leads to a tumultuous trial in which lawyer John Adams must defend the very enemy who has assaulted and abused the laws he holds sacred.

The taut courtroom drama soon broadens into a stunning epic of war as King George III leads a reckless and corrupt government in London toward the escalating abuse of his colonies. Outraged by the increasing loss of their liberties, an extraordinary gathering of America?s most inspiring characters confronts the British presence with the ideals that will change history.

John Adams, the idealistic attorney devoted to the law, who rises to greatness by the power of his words . . . Ben Franklin, one of the most celebrated men of his time, the elderly and audacious inventor and philosopher who endures firsthand the hostile prejudice of the British government . . . Thomas Gage, the British general given the impossible task of crushing a colonial rebellion without starting an all-out war . . . George Washington, the dashing Virginian whose battle experience in the French and Indian War brings him the recognition that elevates him to command of a colonial army . . . and many other immortal names from the Founding Family of the colonial struggle?Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee? captured as never before in their full flesh-and-blood humanity.

More than a powerful portrait of the people and purpose of the revolution, Rise to Rebellion is a vivid account of history?s most pivotal events. The Boston Tea Party, the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill?all are recreated with the kind of breathtaking detail only a master like Jeff Shaara can muster. His most impressive achievement, Rise to Rebellion reveals with new immediacy how philosophers became fighters, ideas their ammunition, and how a scattered group of colonies became the United States of America.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #372328 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-03
• Released on: 2001-07-03
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.56" h x 1.64" w x 6.42" l, 1.88 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Once more breathing vigor and passion into the dusty annals of our nation's history, the author of the bestselling Civil War trilogy (Gods and Generals; The Last Full Measure; Gone for Soldiers) demonstrates an ever-growing level of literary competence in the first installment of his projected two-volume saga of the American Revolution. Spanning the crucible years beginning with the Boston Massacre in March 1770 and continuing through the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July, 4, 1776, the story is told from the perspective of a handful of characters well known from our history books. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty activist Samuel Adams and his younger, more intellectual and oratorical second cousin, John Adams, speak out against King George III. In London there's aging Philadelphian Benjamin Franklin, who has resided for a number of years abroad, an agent for home colony Pennsylvania (and others). In New York, Gen. Thomas Gage is the ranking British officer on American soil. And heroic colonial planter George Washington has risen to full colonel in the Virginia militia fighting for George III during the French and Indian War. This masterful dramatization of the fateful escalation of the rebellion following the Boston Massacre moves from the battles of 1775 at Lexington, Concord, Fort Ticonderoga, Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston, through the convening in 1776 of the Continental Congress and the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Richly embroidered with portraits of such heroes as Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Thomas Jefferson, the tapestry chronicles America's plunge toward liberty. (July; on-sale June 12)Forecast: Ballantine is bringing out the big guns for this one: major advertising, a Boston launch, a 13-city author tour and Fourth of July Gettysburg media appearances. Simultaneous BDD Audio. Expect patriotic sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The first of two projected novels on the American Revolution, Rebellion takes the reader from the Boston Massacre to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Shaara's (Gone for Soldiers) sympathies are evident on every page: the Adamses, Washington, and Franklin are his heroes, as is Abigail Adams, who, though she chafes at the restrictions imposed on her gender, supports her family as husband John travels to and from the Continental Congress. Their adversaries are harsh but wavering (General Gage), venal (Governor Hutchinson), and uncomprehending (the monstrous George III). These are not cardboard figures, however, but complicated human beings making difficult decisions in the midst of a crisis for which old wisdom holds no workable answers. Ultimately, what raises this fine novel above jingoism is the author's ability to make our national myths sing and our country's history come to vibrant life. Recommended.
- David Keymer, California State Univ., Stanislaus
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Shaara is best known for two historical novels that relate to the Civil War and for a third novel that describes some of those same individuals during the time of the Mexican-American war. Here Shaara, in the first of two novels about the American Revolution, "novelizes" the actions of the leading individuals from the Boston Massacre to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Victor Garber offers an excellent reading of this work. His rich baritone voice is a pleasure to the ear. Garber certainly understands that this work is a favorable presentation of the founders, and his reading seems to communicate Shaara's tone. The description of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence is both historically accurate and compelling. M.L.C. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine