Book review: American Creation / Joseph J. Ellis

By Dean Poling

December 21, 2007 11:58 pm

— Joseph J. Ellis has made his name, and won his Pulitzer, writing books about the American Revolution. His Thomas Jefferson biography, “American Sphinx,” earned him his initial recognition and the National Book Award. “Founding Brothers,” his immensely readable stories of the American founding, put him on bestseller lists and captured his Pulitzer. “His Excellency,” a George Washington biography, was another bestseller as is his latest, “American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic.” This book reads like a direct sequel to “Founding Brothers.” Like that book, “American Creation” is a series of stories, or vignettes, about the nation’s earliest days. He tells tales of “The Year,” from April 1775 to July 1776, from the firing of the Revolutionary War’s first shots at Lexington and Concord to the signing of the Declaration of Independence; “The Winter” catches up with George Washington and his threadbare American troops at Valley Forge. These are well-known glimpses into the Revolutionary era, but Ellis also looks at the tragedies of the unresolved issues of slavery and the beginning of the tainted policy of dealing with Indians. Add to that the development of a two-party system and the Louisiana Purchase. Given that Ellis wrote concise portraits of many of these players in “Founding Brothers,” he cuts to the chase of the stories here. Ellis still brings the insight of his research and knowledge to this new book all wrapped in the package of his engaging writing style. If you enjoyed “Founding Brothers,” “American Creation” has been created for you.