Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America.(Brief article)(Book review)

* Rakove, Jack. Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America. Houghton Harcourt. May 2010. c.480p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-618-26746-0. $30. HIST

Employing the methodology of comparative biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rakove (history, Stanford Univ.; Original Meanings: Politics and the Making of the Constitution) newly explores the well-trodden ground of Revolutionary America. This book separates itself from a crowded field by eschewing the common "retelling" of events or hagiography of the founders' exploits and instead focuses on the cerebral world of the decision makers themselves. From the vain John Adams, languishing in a 1756 Worcester, MA, …