1776 By David McCullough: What Has 231 Years Taught Us?

You can't read 1776 without wondering what have we learned in 231 years. History should teach us lessons in empathy.

While I don't equate or want to make the error of comparing the validity of the cause of American Independence to the current events in Iraq, I'm not discussing the merits of the cause. I am adressing the motivations of people engaged in combat.

1776 is a book of battles and war strategies. McCullough does an admirable job in extracting out at least some of the motivating factors of the different participants in the seminal year of American Independence. One of the most pressing questions adressed by Washington and his counterparts was how do you combat the greatest world power, with military might and wealth that far exceeds your own meager position.

Last 50 Books

I never published the last fifty books I finished so here they are:

1. Original Zinn Zinn July 15, 2006
2. The Best American Erotica 2006 Bright July 16, 2006
3. The Devil and Miss Prym Coelho July 17, 2006
4. The Memory of Running McClarty July 19, 2006
5. The Whore's Child Russo July 21, 2006
6. Big Sur Kerouac July 23, 2006
7. Tristessa Kerouac July 26, 2006
8. Talk, Talk Boyle July 26, 2006
9. Memories of My Melancholy Whores Marquez July 28, 2006
10. Memento Mori Spark July 29, 2006
11. A Moveable Feast Hemingway July 29, 2006
12. Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston August 3, 2006
13. The Elephant Vanishes Murakami August 11, 2006
14. The Great Failure Goldberg August 13, 2006
15. Truman McCullough August 31, 2006
16. A Wild Sheep Chase Murakami September 4, 2006
17. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Murakami September 14, 2006
18. Running With Scissors Burroughs September 16, 2006
19. Thou Art That Campbell September 19, 2006
20. A Spot of Bother Haddon September 23, 2006
21. The Black Dahlia Ellory September 26, 2006
22. The Discomfort Zone Franzen September 29, 2006
23. Letter to a Christian Nation Harris September 30, 2006
24. Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend Davis October 6, 2006
25. Black Dahlia Avenger Hodel October 10, 2006
26. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Murakami October 12, 2006
27. Prophets and Brothers Evenson October 16, 2006
28. Fanny Hill Cleland October 18, 2006
29. Kafka's Dick Bennett October 19, 2006
30. An Englishman Abroad Bennett October 20, 2006
31. Forty Years On Bennett October 20, 2006
32. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bryson October 24, 2006
33. The Best American Erotica 2006 Bright October 28, 2006
34. A Little Book on the Human Shadow Bly October 31, 2006
35. 1984 Orwell November 1, 2006
36. The Good Life McInerny November 12, 2006
37. Wild Decembers O'Brien November 14, 2006
38. Down and Out in Paris and London Orwell November 21, 2006
39. The Water is Wide Conroy December 2, 2006
40. The Odyssey Homer December 3, 2006
41. Common Sense Paine December 8, 2006
42. The Art of War Sun Tzu December 8, 2006
43. Rent Girl Tea December 10, 2006
44. The End of Faith Harris December 12, 2006
45. Model Behavior McInerny December 17, 2006
46. Beowulf Anonymous December 13, 2006
47. How To Write a Dirty Story Bright December 17, 2006
48. The Meaning of Everything Winchester December 23, 2006
49. Zen in the Art of Writing Bradbury December 29, 2006
50. Ulysses Joyce December 30, 2006

Library Thing

My newest and most favorite website is officially www.librarything.com . I spent my entire New Year's eve inputting books into my very own catalog of my books. I should have my entire library on this website eventually and I hope they continue to add new features.

It is like a bibliophile porn site -- arousing.