Brands’s book is an engaging examination of the early period of the country’s history. But a reader cannot help but believe that this volume is intended to help Americans navigate the current brawl of politics ... This is a work of history, and Brands’s book illuminates the chinks in the American political system as much as the suppleness of it.
The author writes with a sharp and absorbing style, turning what could be a fairly dry topic into a highly readable tale worthy of a cable miniseries with backstabbing characters, high drama, shady deals, and huge egos all clashing to determine the course of the new country. For anyone who thinks that gridlock and partisan machinations are a recent development, this book will quickly lay those misconceptions to rest.
Although the conflicts of these now nearly mythical statesmen are not unlike the quarrels among today’s legislators, the more deliberate pace of their debates, not to mention their high-minded language, make the eighteenth century seem even more distant.
A reliable account ... Though Brands doesn’t provide much that is new here, his talent for summary and his ability to convey history to general readers shine. Revolutionary War buffs will relish this.
