{"title":"Books by Gordon S. Wood","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780197546918","title":"Power and Liberty","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gordon S. Wood elucidates the debates over the founding documents of the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe half century extending from the imperial crisis between Britain and its colonies in the 1760s to the early decades of the new republic of the United States was the greatest and most creative era of constitutionalism in American history, and perhaps in the world. During these decades, Americans explored and debated all aspects of politics and constitutionalism--the nature of power, liberty, representation, rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government, sovereignty, judicial authority, and written constitutions. The results of these issues produced institutions that have lasted for over two centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this new book, eminent historian Gordon S. Wood distills a lifetime of work on constitutional innovations during the Revolutionary era. In concise form, he illuminates critical events in the nation's founding, ranging from the imperial debate that led to the Declaration of Independence to the revolutionary state constitution making in 1776 and the creation of the Federal Constitution in 1787. Among other topics, he discusses slavery and constitutionalism, the emergence of the judiciary as one of the major tripartite institutions of government, the demarcation between public and private, and the formation of states' rights. Here is an immensely readable synthesis of the key era in the making of the history of the United States, presenting timely insights on the Constitution and the nation's foundational legal and political documents.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56226171453813,"sku":"9780197546918","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780197546918_05656145-da24-4faa-a860-8485b0905898.jpg?v=1786011379"},{"product_id":"common-sense-1","title":"Common Sense","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe incendiary political pamphlet that helped launch the American Revolution, introduced by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Gordon S. Wood\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe revolutionary fervor that sparked the American Revolution in 1776 had been a long time coming. Since the early 1760s, hundreds of pamphlets had been published on both sides of the Atlantic debating the limits of Great Britain’s authority over its North American colonies. Yet most of these were written by educated gentlemen for educated readers like themselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCommon Sense\u003c\/i\u003e by Thomas Paine, published on January 10, 1776, was entirely different. It was like a bomb thrown into the midst of a sedate debate—exploding with a force that stunned and alarmed the gentry elites. Paine sought readers everywhere, especially in the tavern- and artisan-centered worlds of the cities. Even more important than the work’s accessibility was the fact that Paine wrote with a rage and a moral fury that few before him had ever expressed. He tapped into a deep anger shared by many common, middling people in these years—shopkeepers, traders, petty merchants—people weary of being scorned and held in contempt by a monarchical, aristocratic, hierarchical world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCommon Sense \u003c\/i\u003ebecame the most influential pamphlet in the entire Revolutionary era, going through twenty-five editions in 1776 alone and selling 150,000 copies. Introduced here by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Gordon S. Wood, this is the singular, electrifying work that galvanized a nation—and a people—who were ready for independence.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495454744949,"sku":"9798217198894","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798217198894.jpg?v=1786618125"},{"product_id":"empire-of-liberty","title":"Empire of Liberty","description":"The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of the USA. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812. As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country. Integrating all aspects of life, from politics and law to the economy and culture, Empire of Liberty offers a marvelous account of this pivotal era when America took its first unsteady steps as a new and rapidly expanding nation. A Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for HistoryWinner of the New-York Historical Society American History Book PrizeA New York Times BestsellerSelected as one of the Top 25 Books of 2009 by The Atlantic\"On every page of this book, Wood's subtlety and erudition show. Grand in scope and a landmark achievement of scholarship, Empire of Liberty is a tour de force, the culmination of a lifetime of brilliant thinking and writing.\" --The New York Times Book Review\"Empire of Liberty will rightly take its place among the authoritative volumes in this important and influential series.\"--The Washington Post","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57499127644533,"sku":"9780199832460","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780199832460.jpg?v=1786694413"},{"product_id":"the-creation-of-the-american-republic-1776-1787","title":"The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787","description":"This volume describes the evolution of political thought from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution and in the process greatly illuminates the origins of the present American political system. In a new preface, he discusses the debate over republicanism that has developed since the book's original publication by UNC Press in 1969.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57695227674997,"sku":"9780807847237","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780807847237.jpg?v=1793032195"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-gordon-s-wood.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}