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  • 1776

1776 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

David McCullough (Author, Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher)
4.6 out of 5 stars (9,788)
#1 Best Seller in American Revolution Biographies
America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America’s survival in the hands of George Washington.

In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color; farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough’s 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.
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  1. Listening Length
    11 hours and 33 minutes
  2. Author
    David McCullough
  3. Narrator
    David McCullough
  4. Publication date
    May 24, 2005
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Audio
  7. ASIN
    B0009S2F0G
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 33 minutes
Author David McCullough
Narrator David McCullough
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date May 24, 2005
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0009S2F0G
Best Sellers Rank

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
9,788 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find this book to be a compelling and well-researched historical narrative that weaves together personal stories and events of 1776. The writing style is clear and engaging, with one customer noting it reads like a novel with historical twists. They appreciate its thorough documentation and consider it essential reading for Americans, with one review highlighting its deep dive into the pre-war years.
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743 customers mention content, 693 positive, 50 negative
Customers find the book engaging and fun to read.
A truly great book that is well researched written. It puts the reader right in action. Very hard to put down. My all time favorite.Read more
Great read but a bit long I did learn some things that were not included in school history But could have been a bit shorter readRead more
Good read. Would have liked more insight as to how this affected future events.Read more
...But aside from the title, this is an excellent book that is a great supplement to a broader history of the entire American Revolution such as Robert...Read more
265 customers mention informative, 263 positive, 2 negative
Customers find the book informative, praising its incredible depth of research and well-structured historical narrative, with one customer noting it's an excellent way to learn about the Revolution.
...It was informative, surprising, warm and educational. The audio book is great... so enthralling you won't even know you're learning something....Read more
Well researched and detailed information throughout the book. Lots of details that I was not aware of prior to reading this book....Read more
Very well written and very informative, David McCullough is by far my favorite author on historical events....Read more
...It is very well researched, and the author's beautiful narrative style breathes life into his characters and the main events of those crucial days...Read more
165 customers mention writing quality, 157 positive, 8 negative
Customers praise the writing quality of the book, describing it as a wonderfully written chronicle that feels like real history.
Well written and easy to follow for the casual reader interested in learning more about our nation's history and the individuals that risked so much...Read more
...First, McCullough is an excellent writer who tells this history through the individual stories of those who participated, from the leaders...Read more
An eye-opener! Why isn't this mandatory reading in high school? Very well written. where's "1777"? I feel left hanging, looking for more.Read more
...year 1776 and the start of the U. S. revolutionary war as told by a great writer....Read more
163 customers mention story, 146 positive, 17 negative
Customers praise the book's narrative style, describing it as one of the best history books and noting how well it weaves historical facts with personal anecdotes. One customer mentions that it reads like a novel with historical twists.
Great story in that it dicusses an entire year during the Revolutionary War and not a single event or individual.Read more
...full of quotes and citations from various sources, but it still reads like a story, not a research paper....Read more
...An amazing story. Hard to believe from our position of today.Read more
...I had no idea how scrappy the continental army was. Truly an excellent storyRead more
154 customers mention readability, 137 positive, 17 negative
Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as an easy-to-follow history that reads like a novel, making it a must-read for Americans.
...Easy to read, hard to put down, and concise to the specific subject. Look forward to reading other books by Mr. McCulloughRead more
...I read a lot of True Crime so this was a nice treat and easy readiRead more
...It's clear and concise and reads like a good novel, very engaging....Read more
Reads like a novel! If the history books in school were written this way everyone would love history!...Read more
151 customers mention historical quality, 148 positive, 3 negative
Customers appreciate the historical quality of the book, describing it as an amazing trip through history that chronicles the events of 1776 and serves as the greatest account of the Revolutionary War.
Excellent historyRead more
Good history. BookRead more
Great History, easy to read.Read more
I haven't read it yet, but I love history and know I will enjoy it.Read more
139 customers mention detailed, 129 positive, 10 negative
Customers appreciate the book's detailed content, finding it thoroughly descriptive and well-documented, with one customer noting it provides just the right amount of information on each person.
EXCELLENT audio book. Very detailed and informative. I loved listening to the stories and facts of this period by a fantastic author.Read more
...Detailed and thought provocating recounts of our country's beginning and those that sacrificed for an idea and whether believed in.Read more
...He's easy to read, thorough, and gives one a really good summary of what happened in our past, and there's no bias....Read more
McCullough...how could you go wrong? Great story, well told....Read more
49 customers mention author, 48 positive, 1 negative
Customers praise the author's writing style and consider him one of the best history writers, with one customer specifically mentioning his biography of John Adams.
Great read. Keeps you interested and captivated with every word. Great author. Shorter than I thought. But still a great read.Read more
...David McCullough is an excellent author. I've enjoyed several of his books and will now move on to "John Adams".Read more
David McCullough is a fantastic author!Read more
This is an awesome book from an awesome author! David McCullough is a man who brings you to the heart of the times!...Read more
Leadership Perspective for the Millennial Age
5 out of 5 stars
Leadership Perspective for the Millennial Age
EXCELLENT BOOK! Here are my take-aways. Detailed comments include context in the attached photos. First leadership take-away: Leadership Despair. Project execution requires loyalty and faithfulness… yet, some troops didn’t care, or worse they purposely screwed it up or poisoned the water by sowing discord amongst troops. General Washington could encourage people, but he could not control their attitude. Washington turned to a home improvement project where he had control. This was how he kept sane knowing full well the sovereignty of our country was at stake. Second leadership take-away: Leadership styles must be tailored for certain group types. Examples: • Lead from the front --- required for inexperienced groups (perhaps for millennials)… in a business, or for the Revolutionary War! • Manage capabilities (lead from behind as a driver) --- needed for groups who are self-reliant and are able to manage technically, but the business or mission strategy needs full time leadership especially when stakeholder connections are important. • Be an advisor --- needed when the business or mission has a leader and could be performing well (or not), and the expertise of a seasoned consultant is needed for greater impact. A leader that encourages a team from the front, is a leader that imparts a vision while standing should-to-shoulder during the fight. Washington rallied his troops for the sake of their country. In today’s work environment, the work ethic is characterized by electronics and button-pushing. In this book, the younger generation lacked the warrior ethos or the drive to soldier it alone. General Washington recognized ineptitude as a result of people “unused to restraint”. The Continental Army seemed to be a dysfunctional group of farmers. Somehow, fighting for freedom may have been an ideal, but seemingly not a strong determination. In the words of Washington, a special kind of leadership was required. As he stated, “A people unused to restraint must be led, they will not be drove.” While Washington was criticized for his leadership failures, this book helps the reader to understand Washington may have been the best leader. Maximum success was achieved for the farmer soldiers of the Continental Army.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • KeithE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
    Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2026
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    EXCELLENT audio book. Very detailed and informative. I loved listening to the stories and facts of this period by a fantastic author.
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  • Sakuteiki
    5.0 out of 5 stars verbal nuncupative will deathbed wishes shared in fear on the Revolutionary battlefield
    Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2025
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    1790 letter the Hebrew Congregation in Newport: All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. George Washington equal rights vs "tolerance".

    JohnAdams (PaulGiamatti) LauraLinney as AbigailAdams covers the time period from the BostonMassacre to the 50year anniversary of the DeclarationOfIndependence July 4, 1826 miniseries 8h21m with optional FactsAreStubbornThings pop ups each scene footnotes referencing the facts supporting what is viewed during a scene. JohnAdams 2001 book by DavidMcCullough won 2002PulitzerPrize. The 2008 TVminiseries covers a longer historical period than this book 1776, which relates only the first year of the American Revolution.

    1776 by David McCullough 2005 captures the raw power of first person accounts from participants living history, creating a new free country. George Washington reveals his character through letters, memos, dispatches, speeches, orders, council of war minutes: as Commander In Chief I am a servant of Congress.
    Others on and off the field share thoughts opinions, fears, doubts, neglect, ignorance, self-indulgence, vile behavior: John Hancock, Thomas Paine, soldiers British, paid mercenary German Hessians and American rebels, Tories and Whigs in Parliament, King George III proclamations (the King's speech took 20min before a joint meeting of Parliament to announce the war against the Americas).
    General Howe offered multiple opportunities to George Washington to surrender. The minutes of those meetings, and diary notes subsequently show how little each participant understood the other.

    1776 has two sections of maps (1776 Boston and New York), oil portaits, sketches of war scenes.
    Diaries and letters encapsulate the terror and day to day suffering of war in snow ice windstorm Nor'easter winters, without horses, guns, cannons, a Navy, ammunition, tents, coats, blankets, shoes, clothes, food, or pay.
    Heart rending letters to and from home, torn loyalties to family and to country, choices, some rewarded, others leading to guilt and shame, diary thoughts: each offers word pictures of the moment to moment events, unforseen accidents, sufferings of those who lived that year 1776. Media reactions were delayed sometimes by months for news to arrive across land or the ocean.

    I watched the John Adams 2008 miniseries first, which visually offered form to the events which unfold on the pages of the book 1776 published 2005. Each compliments the other.

    1776 has extensive footnotes at the back, lists sources books newspapers, pamphlets, diaries, biographies, National Park Service museums (Mt Vernon, Boston, Trenton, New York), which allow one to deep dive into a particular area of interest.
    Tar and feathering was a common manner of expressing displeasure.
    Negro soldiers' loyalty and sacrifice as part of Washington's rebel army convinced him of the immorality of slavery and he freed his slaves in his will.
    Smallpox raged throughout the Revolutionary war; Abigail Adams had herself and her children variolated against smallpox to protect them from death.
    Dysentery ravaged the Continental Army unaccustomed to the discipline of public health, while British and Hessian soldiers remained healthy, adhering to public health principles of hand washing, toileting hygiene, separating latrine downstream outflows from drinking water inflow sources.

    Loneliness, homesickness, lack of preparation education or training for war among young men, some too young to shave (ages 10 serving as fifes), armed only with sticks and no discipline make the winning of the Revolutionary War seem an accidental miracle.

    1776 is a tribute of editing the observations of ordinary people in extraordinary moments. The author weaves together the bits and pieces of thought, emotion, secret fears and allows us to trudge in the mud of war, and see who does what. And the vagaries of weather and wind. With no wind the ships could not sail. When the tides are in mud flats are difficult to traverse.

    Who plunders homes, ravishes the women, who devotes time and attention to the elderly the sick, the pregnant women, the children, the prisoners and their well-being? It is not sufficient to kill, bodies must be identified and buried, wounded must be treated, families notified.
    General Washington takes the time to attend to the myriad tasks of leadership, and allows his personal whims and impulses to be reined in by the will of Congress, the wisdom of other Generals in councils of war, allowing for more fruitful outcomes.

    1776 is a year in the life of the history of the United States. Read alongside the John Adams miniseries it is gripping.
    4th grade reading level. The interweaving of quotes from letters and diaries engages a sense of being present and witnessing the wartime suffering. Like any book on the Revolutionary War you already know the ending, but the journey of blended voices from letters and diaries is fascinating.
    5* 1776 David McCullough
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Cynthia K. Robertson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but I was hoping for more...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2005
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    In honor of Independence Day, I decided to read David McCullough's new book, 1776. McCullough is one of America's foremost writers and historians and has scored major hits with such monumental works as Truman, John Adams and Mornings on Horseback. While enjoyable, I don't feel that 1776 meets the high standards set in his earlier works. David Hackett Fischer's brilliant Washington's Crossing is a much more fascinating look at the same time period and covers most of the same events.

    Part of McCullough's problem with 1776 is that the scope is so very short. It begins in late 1775 with the siege of Boston, and ends in early 1777 with the Battle of Princeton. It is primarily a story about George Washington and the Continental Army, and military engagements between the Americans, British and Hessians. The political events of this time period, including the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence, are given just a cursory mention.

    Still, this is a fascinating period in our early history, and it's a wonder that the American's were able to survive. George Washington was largely untested, and many of those men he placed in leadership positions (especially Nathanael Greene and Henry Knox) were well read in military history but very short on military experience. At first, Washington was often indecisive, and it cost him bitterly-especially in New York. But the victories at Trenton and Princeton gave the army a much-needed boost, and lifted the flagging spirits of the young Americans.

    1776 proved to be a year of unbelievable contrasts. The Americans suffered some crushing blows (Brooklyn, Long Island, White Plains, Fort Washington), while pulling off some major victories (the British departure from Boston, Trenton and Princeton). Some of their successes bordered on miracles including the retrieving of cannon from Fort Ticonderoga, the taking of Dorchester Heights, and the successful and secret retreat from Brooklyn. Both sides were at the mercy of the weather, but it often times seemed that the hand of God was at work for the Americans. A three-day nor'easter kept the British from attacking Boston. No wind often kept British ships from sailing at will, and a bizarre fog aided in their retreat from Brooklyn. Still, conditions were harsh and most soldiers were ill prepared. Enlistments were only for one year, and desertions were common. But every time the Americans were at their lowest point, the British would pull back for one reason or another, instead of bringing a quick end to the battle for independence.

    McCullough's research is prodigious, and the journal entries and letters from "regular" soldiers were rather interesting. Unfortunately, the Revolution continued for another 6-1/2 years, so 1776 is merely an introduction. Also, it would have been nice if McCullough provided us with a brief epilogue. I had to search the Internet to discover that the British eventually traded the vain, jealous and power-hungry Major General Charles Lee for one of their officers. He finally got what was coming to him when he was court martialed for refusing to follow orders and the disrespect shown to Washington during the Battle of Monmouth.

    So, while 1776 is an engaging book, I just expected a little more.
    16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • JC
    5.0 out of 5 stars L’indépendance chèrement conquise
    Reviewed in France on January 17, 2023
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Quelle aventure : une armée qui n’en est pas une victorieuse à deux reprises d’un adversaire puissant et bien organisé. Et un chef qui, malgré quelques indécisions, remporte les victoires décisives.

    Dommage que le livre s’arrête avant la bataille de Yorktown.
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  • Pbn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantástico libro.
    Reviewed in Spain on January 28, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Es historia pero se lee como una novela. El autor consigue mantener un ritmo narrativo que no desfallece a lo largo de la exposición de los sucesos históricos del año crucial de la Revolución Americana.
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  • Aditya Ganjoo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly engaging and honest but abrupt
    Reviewed in India on April 25, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Positives:
    1. Highly engaging. Very hard to put the book down
    2. Seems to be an honest narrative. It does not talk only about the glories of Gen Washington and his men, but also of the troubles they were plagued with - diseases, desertion and destitution

    Negative (Spoiler - some may consider):
    Abrupt start and end. Starts right after the battle of Bunker Hill and ends somewhere in the middle of the war. No context setting whatsoever, and a hasty conclusion. Rather than being a narrative of the American Revolution, it is only about the events of 1776.

    Positives strongly outweight the negative. Thus, no star deducted.
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  • " La mayor Maestría, Dominarse a Si Mismo ". Leonardo da Vinci
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gran libro.
    Reviewed in Mexico on April 27, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Gran libro relacionado con la Historia de EUA. Llegó rápido y en excelente estado. gracias
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  • Robert Cornwell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the Revolution.
    Reviewed in Germany on February 10, 2026
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I learned so much from this book. It’s very detailed and accurate historically.
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