G. Barry Anderson reviews “American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic," By Joseph J. Ellis

The past decade has seen an explosion in wonderful books about the founders of the American experiment. A partial list would have to include Walter Isaacson’s fine biography about Benjamin Franklin, David McCullough’s “1776,” and biographies about Washington and Adams (and the Adams family as well).

These books share some common characteristics, the most relevant of which to today’s review is length. Almost without exception, these fine historical works are long, sometimes running several hundred pages from beginning to end. And that can be an impediment to reading an otherwise terrific book.

Historian Joseph Ellis has written an account about the era of the creation of America as a constitutional democracy that is every bit as readable as the best sellers in this genre but is composed of short, chapters that can be read independent of each other and the entire book is less than 250 pages.

Not only is it a fine history of the 1775-1800 era of American history, you have just been deprived of the principal reason to avoid it.

To read the entire review, see the Thursday, Dec. 27 print edition of the Hutchinson Leader.

Barry Anderson writes occasional book reviews for the Hutchinson Leader. “American Creation” is available at area bookstores, online and through the Hutchinson Library. Comments about this review, and suggestions for future reviews, can be sent to gbarryanderson@gmail.com.