The American Revolutionaries: A History in Their Own Words, 1750-1800

Milton Meltzer, a Christopher Award and Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner, is the author of over eighty books in the fields of history, biography, and social reform. His most recent books are The Amazing Potato, a 1993 ALA Notable Children's Book, Gold and Hold Your Horses!. He lives in New York City.

Winner of the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal

Grade 5 Up Once again Meltzer employs primary source material to make an era come alive. Here, he depicts the American Revolution from the point of view of its participants: its soldiers, its leaders, those who waited at home. Included are excerpts from letters, journals, reports, and official documents, all placed in context by Meltzer's concise and well written introductions which, in themselves, constitute a clear overview of American history from the 1750s to the 1780s. Through his choice of selections, Meltzer demonstrates the central point of view of the rebels, that they could not truly fulfill the promise of their immigration until they governed themselves. Included are writings from participants in the French and Indian War, Lexington and Concord, and the winter at Valley Forge; the framers of the Constitution; and so forth. Familiar names such as Washington, Adams (John and Abigail), and Franklin are includedFranklin delightfully sobut the bulk of the papers come from the common people, and these are the words that give texture to the history and make it stick in the memory: an old woman's memory of the surrendering British general at Yorktown with tears rolling down his cheeks, for example. These give a vivid sense of the struggles and brutalities of the times. Readers need to keep in mind that the purpose of this book is to give the rebel point of view. Balanced accounts exist elsewhere. This tells why one third of the colonies stood up to rebel, and it does so unforgettably. Christine Behrmann, New York Public Library
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.