Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution (The American Revolutionary War)

In volume 1 of his 2 volume account of the American Revolution, Jeff Shaara takes the reader on another exciting adventure, this one from the streets of Boston on a cold December in 1770, as a crowd of Bostonians imperil a small detail of British soldiers who fire into the crowd in an incident known in our history book as the Boston Massacre, to a sultry July in Philadelphia in 1776 when a new nation is born. The story is told mostly through the eyes of its main characters, including Ben Franklin, John Adams, Sam Adams, British General Thomas Gage, George Washington, and several others. As Jeff Shaara describes it best in his introduction, "In telling you their stories from their points of view, it is essential that the research take me into their minds. It then becomes my task to bring those voices to you." (p. vii). In this task, there are no superiors. He deftly brings the reader along and slowly builds the tension as relations between England and her American colonies steadily deteriorate as England remains largely clueless about how her policies impact those colonies. Jeff Shaara has an amazing talent for placing the reader in the place and time of the story.

I'm not big on hyperbole, but "Rise To Rebellion" is simply one of the best books I have ever read. As a college student way back when, I read Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" and loved it. When I saw his son, Jeff, followed up on this with "Gods and Generals" I was bit leery, but gave it a shot. Glad I did, as it was terrific, but, "Rise to Rebellion" is even better. If you read this book, you will be transported back to the Revolutionary War days and swear you are in the room with Franklin, Adams (John and Sam), Gage and Washington.

Jeff Shaara is rapidly emerging as one of our finest historical novelists. Now in Rise to Rebellion he tells deftly the story of the initial phase of the American Revolution. From the Boston Massacre and John Adams' decision to defend a British officer in court (a key step toward the rule of law which made the American Revolution so different from its French and Russian successors), to Benjamin Franklin's desperate and patient ten year effort to be an Englishman while representing the colonies in London to the quiet emergence of Washington as the disciplined force on which the revolution would succeed, Shaara creates a tour de force.Anyone who would seek to understand the origins of the American Revolution and the precepts of political order, private property, individual liberty and the rule of law which made this the keystone for human freedom will find this a compelling book.Shaara captures with remarkable accuracy the process of how these revolutionaries placed themselves at enormous risk to create a new future. His portrait of how the Continental Congress moves slowly and with great agony toward independence is worth the entire book. His portrait of Franklin gradually becoming first disillusioned then embittered, then angry and finally defiant against the very Britain he had wanted to belong to is worth a dozen books.I cannot recommend this book too strongly if you would like to understand how America came to be. I am looking forward to the promised second volume.

Michael Shaara's success of the "Killer Angels" was followed by his son Jeff who wrote two additional Civil War novels to create a great trilogy. Then, Jeff branched out, releasing his Mexican War novel "Gone for Soldiers" last year. Now, he continues his fine production of historical novels with this first of two volumes about the American Revolution. "Rise to Rebellion" on the one hand is similar to the other Shaara novels in that it views the subject from the eyes of several key figures of the period. Here, these figures include Franklin, John Adams, General Gage, Washington and other great personalities of that era. The novel is different than the others in that it leads up to the summer of 76 and the Declaration of Independence. It is more about the growth of the revolutionary movement in the colonies than about military battles. Oh sure ... recounted are battles such as Lexington and Concord, and Breeds Hill. Furthermore, the book concludes with a lead in to the battle of Long Island which will probably be a key event in Shaara's next novel. But, the book is more about growing dissatisfaction with England in Boston, and the great debates in the Continental Congress held in Philadelphia. Like the other Shaara novels, this is a pretty good way to learn history since it is fairly easy to determine, on the one hand, the actual events and the reason behind those events, and on the other hand, what constitutes a novelist's license. I don't always agree with his interpretation, however. Specifically, I feel that Shaara presents John Dickinson, a member of the Continental Congress from Pennsylvaia, as being just short of a Tory. However, in reading Joseph Ellis's book "American Sphynx" (about Thomas Jefferson) it seems that Dickinson was very much a patriot, albeit very conservative about the prospect of war with England. It is important to note that Dickinson shared the dissastisfaction with the way England treated the colonies to a much greater degree than you would guess from reading "Rise to Rebellion." Nonetheless, regardless of the interpretation, Dickinson was a conservative force who was deeply concerned about the consequences of breaking away from England but, he showed great statesmanship when he abstained rather than possibly stand in the way of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by voting against it. Paranthetically, I have recently read McCullough's biography of John Adams which segued well into this novel.

This is the 3rd book I have read by the Shaara father and son team (Killer Angels and Gone for Soldiers previously) and like the others, it kept my interest throughout... was hard to put down. Also like the others, it really spiked an interest in me to read more and learn more about the people and events of the book. When I finished the book, I was left with a great feeling of satisfaction, because I truly enjoyed reading it, and at the same time came away from it knowing that I had learned a lot about the early days of the American Revolution.Easy to read, with a fair amount of dialogue, never gets bogged down in detail. The only criticism I can make, is that it contains a little too much about the daily routine and eccentricities of Ben Franklin. But then again, some of Franklin's borderline wackiness lends a good deal of wimsy to the book. Readers who expect a lot of war time fighting, i.e. a battle-of-the-day type chronicle should be warned that the period of time this book covers, includes lots of talk, meetings, attempts at negotiation, committees, etc. But Shaara gives very exciting and suspensful accounts of Lexington, Bunker/Breeds Hill and more.I would recommend this book to anyone.

This is yet another wonderful book from the pen of Jeff Shaara. If you have read any of Mr. Shaara's other works then it is safe to assume that you will enjoy this book just as well.For those who have yet to discover Mr. Shaara's books..."Rise to Rebellion," covers the span of time from the "Boston Massacre" of 1770 to the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the formative years of the American Revolution. The events that led up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence are brought to life and told through the unique perspectives of some of its most famous participants, John Adams, Ben Franklin, George Washington, and the British General, Thomas Gage.Their lives and the events surrounding and involving them are carefully interwoven to create a marvelous book. If you think you learned the real history of our split up from Britain in school, and that you know everything that is going to happen in this book, think again. Mr. Shaara has done a wonderful job of researching our early history and has reawoken many of the issues and events that were so vital to the rebellion, but are now lost to our school texts.I can't wait for the second volume to be published and wonder what topic Mr. Shaara will move choose to write about after that.