Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free

This portrait of the birth of the United States is "mesmerizing. Masterful. History written with the gravitational pull of a good novel" (Dan Rather).

No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies togeth...