Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution

Setting The World Ablaze Is The Story Of The Three Men Who, Perhaps More Than Any Others, Helped Bring The United Sates Into Being: George Washington, John Adams, And Thomas Jefferson. Braiding Three Strands Into One Narrative, John Ferling Brings These American Icons Down From Their Pedestals To Show Them As Men Of Flesh And Blood, And Gives Us A New Understanding Of The Passion And Uncertainty Of The Struggle To Form A New Nation. Setting The World Ablaze Shows In Detail How These Conservative Men - Successful Members Of The Colonial Elite - Were Transformed Into Radical Revolutionaries, And In Doing So, It Illuminates Not Just The Special Genius Of These Three Leaders, But The Transformation Of His Majesty's Colonies Into The United States.--jacket. Setting The World Ablaze Is The Story Of The Three Men Who, Perhaps More Than Any Others, Helped Bring The United States Into Being: George Washington, John Adams, And Thomas Jefferson. Braiding Three Strands Into One Rich Narrative, John Ferling Brings These American Icons Down From Their Pedestals To Show Them As Men Of Flesh And Blood, And Gives Us A New Understanding Of The Passion And Uncertainty Of The Struggle To Form A New Nation. A Leading Historian Of The Revolutionary Era, Ferling Draws On An Unsurpassed Command Of The Primary Sources And A Talent For Swiftly Moving Narrative To Give Us Intimate Views Of Each Of These Men. More Than Any Scholar Before Him, Ferling Shows Us Both The Overarching Historical Picture Of The Era And A Gripping Sense Of How These Men Encountered The Challenges That Faced Them. At Close Quarters, We See Washington, Containing A Profound Anger At British Injustice Within An Austere Demeanor; Adams, Far From Home, Struggling With Severe Illness And French Duplicity In His Crucial Negotiations In Paris; And Jefferson, Distracted And Indecisive, Confronting Uncertainties About His Future In Politics. John Adams, In Particular, Emerges From The Narrative As The Most Underappreciated Hero Of The Revolution, While Jefferson Is Revealed As The Most Overrated Of The Founders, Although The Most Eloquent. Setting The World Ablaze Shows In Dramatic Detail How These Conservative Men--successful Members Of The Colonial Elite--were Transformed Into Radical Revolutionaries, And In Doing So, It Illuminates Not Just The Special Genius Of These Three Leaders, But The Remarkable Transformation Of His Majesty's Colonies Into The United States.--publisher Description. Prologue: Embarked On A Most Tempestuous Sea July 1, 1776 Xiv -- Part 1 Distinguished From The Common Run Of Men Children Who Were Fathers Of The Men -- 1 The Strong Desire Of Distinction The Vagaries Of Youth 2 -- 2 Getting Under Sail The Decisions Of Youth 18 -- 3 This Desultory Life Toward Mid-life 41 -- Part 2 Fortitude, Vigour, And Perseverance Waging War And Independence -- 4 An Epocha In History Revolutionaries 64 -- 5 To Ride In This Whirlwind Independence 92 -- 6 Turning The Tide Of Arms War And Reform 138 -- Part 3 It Is Impossible To Exceed This From Despair To Triumph -- 7 A Fatal Crisis The Great Peril, 1778-1780 186 -- 8 The Womb Of Fate Victory 223 -- 9 Who Shall Write The History Of The American Revolution? Memory And Meaning 273 -- Epilogue: The Sword And Bulwark Of The American Revolution 296. John Ferling. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [362]-371) And Index.