Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers

by Michael Barone

Book Overview

The ideals of freedom and individual rights that inspired America's Founding Fathers did not spring from a vacuum. Along with many other defining principles of our national character, they can be... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400097924
• ISBN13: 9781400097920
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 339 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Did American founders fully agree with the English history?

Michael Barone's 'Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers' is an excellent account of the 17th century English political history. Much of it is known and taught to the British students and were taught in erstwhile British overseas colonies. Consequently, English history had a mesmerizing appeal everywhere. Little wonder that this would be more so for the American founding fathers most of whom had close connection with their motherland and who had completed their education in England. Dr. Barone's thesis that the bloodless Glorious Revolution was the pioneer in triggering off the casualty-ridden and the sanguinary American Revolution is as partially correct as the claim that the bloody French Revolution drew its inspiration from the American Revolution. While it is a widely held consensus that the Amerian Revolution owed a lot to that English revolution, the paradox is that the main centerpiece of that revolution- the religious issues- were totally left out in the American case. This goes to show that the US founders did not altogether agree with England in theri new political thoughts. While England needed monarchy for nearly another couple of centuries, this was anathema to the American founders. Tom Paine's various accounts bear testimony to this fact. The founding fathers, however, followed the political philosophy of John Locke who had great admiration for that 1688 English Revolution. Gautam Maitra Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies since Independence.'

Essential for understanding modern history

To be sure 1688-9 does not strictly qualify as "modern", but the events of the Glorious Revolution described and discussed here by an expert on modern American politics have had a wide impact on the history of the last 250 years. The book is carefully organized and readable. It would make a good outside reading assignment for high school classes in American history. The appendices contain the key written statements by William and the Act of Parliament of 1689 that defined the constitutional order for the U.K. and led to the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Although the author does an excellent job or summarizing them in the main text, they deserve to be read in full.

It is a consequential story, and we are lucky to have Michael Barone to tell it.

Michael Barone is best known in political circles for the biennial Almanac of American Politics, which contains vital information about individual leaders and areas of the country. He is a high-ranking journalist who shows up on the Sunday morning talk shows from time to time to explain What It All Means. He knows Washington, its folkways and, most importantly, his political history. In OUR FIRST REVOLUTION, Barone transfers his insight into a new environment --- the political maelstrom of 17th-century Britain. And "maelstrom" is close to the right word for the level of upheaval that precedes his story. Within the lifetime of its central figure, King James II, the realm had known a fierce Civil War, the execution of a sitting King, the rule of an unelected "Lord Protector" and the reinstitution of the monarchy. As you can see, this is not the sort of political environment where it matters much who is on the Agriculture Committee. OUR FIRST REVOLUTION begins by looking backward, with a quick, almost breathless review of both European and English history to date, most of which centers on the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. Years of warfare had led to the principle that the religion of the king determined the religion of the people --- a problem in England that had shuttled between Protestant and Catholic monarchs. After the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, the issue of the king's faith seemed settled --- until the heir apparent, James, Duke of York, announced that he was converting to Catholicism. This conversion was a real and apparent threat to English Protestants, who feared yet another spate of unrest and rebellion. Barone does a masterful job of explicating the political and extra-political measures that were brought to bear to keep James off the throne --- everything from rumor-mongering to preemptive legislation. Keeping track of the intricate plotting, things like Ecclesiastical Commissions and the Exclusion Crisis are right in Barone's wheelhouse. He stays on the trail when the political crisis turns into a military crisis, as James's son-in-law, William of Orange, leads an army from The Netherlands to challenge for the throne. Where OUR FIRST REVOLUTION falls a bit short is in its inability to illuminate the characters of the central actors; there is just not enough explanation given to exactly why James II converted to Catholicism, or what sort of personality he had, or why he fled the throne as he did. Worse, the other principal player --- his successor, William of Orange --- comes across as a big stick-in-the-mud. The one really interesting character in the book is John Churchill, who is an ancestor to Winston Churchill, and Barone frequently and gratefully cites the great man's biography of his distinguished forbearer. But OUR FIRST REVOLUTION is largely a work of political history, not personal history, and its great plan is to show how the events of the Glorious Revolution impacted the revolutionary thi

Strongly recommend it .

Before reading this book, I knew very little about the implications between the British and the American Revolutions, and I must say that the book ended up being very informative and enlightening. I had read a very positive review of the book in the Wall Street Journal, so I expected quality in terms of the research and the writing. Yet, the book surprised me. I expected much less than what I got, and besides discovering the revolutionary connections between the two sides of the Atlantic, I had a wonderful leisurely time reading it, learning without effort, feeling transported from Torquay to London. I strongly recommend it.

Well-written, powerful narrative; compelling storytelling!

Anyone who enjoyed "1776" will benefit greatly from reading about the English revolution that preceded ours. What Michael Barone succeeds in doing is making a variety of previously unknown people and events both interesting and revelant. After reading "Hard America, Soft America" with great enjoyment, I am considering reading Mr. Barone's other books; and, I am curious about what he will write about next. He has at least one excited customer already committed to buying whatever that is!