Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

* Nash, Gary B. The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle To Create America. Viking. 2005. c.544p. illus. index. ISBN 0-670-03420-7. $27.95. HIST

Nash (history, UCLA; Red, White and Black) examines the American Revolution from the perspective of the ordinary people involved, e.g., women, laborers, farmers, Native Americans, and slaves, making the case that those who actually fought and won the Revolution deserve the credit for it. As Nash reveals, the clean, linear history of the Revolution taught in school simply is not true; it was actually a very messy, chaotic, and fragmented affair. The narrative focuses on the latter half of …