McCullough researched a multitude of documents and archives to present his moving book about the American Revolution. Although his book is historically accurate, it is also a powerful look into the lives, decisions, and actions of the American leaders and patriots who risked everything for independence.

One theme you can investigate in the book is that of bravery. McCullough tears back the curtain to allow readers to see the humanity and struggles of the revolutionary leaders, especially George Washington. Many Americans today do not fully understand how close the colonists were, at times, to losing everything during the war. One purpose of the book is to provide real testimonies of the conflict to enlighten Americans about our roots of freedom. While Washington was a strong and courageous leader, he faced unbelievable odds in most battles; trials were daily, as he spent years away from home for the sake of the cause.

In truth, the situation was worse than they realized, and no one perceived this as clearly as Washington. Seeing things as they were, and not as he would wish them to be, was one of his salient strengths.

With his effective depictions of the colonial forces, McCullough reveals the true nature of the revolutionary army and the very unrefined group of devoted countrymen and women that would defeat a great empire of the world at that time. You might want to explain how the theme of perseverance is addressed in the book.

To the British and those Loyalists who had taken refuge in Boston, they were simply "the rebels," or "the country people," undeserving the words "American" or "army." General John Burgoyne disdainfully dubbed them "a preposterous parade," a "rabble in arms."

Interestingly, McCullough spent time investigating the lives of men who fought on both sides of the war. He wrote about the experiences of British leaders and soldiers as well as those on the American side. He read and researched primary documents from both British and American sources, which provides valuable credence to his descriptive narrative.

Strange it was that the British commander-in-chief, known for his chronic gambling, seemed to give no thought to how his American opponent might play his hand.

Another theme you could investigate in this great book is that of overcoming adversity. It is apparent from the accounts of those who lived through the revolution that very few people actually expected Americans to win the war. However, the way the colonists overcame to gain their victorious freedom is powerful; McCullough shows readers how they did.

Farmers and soldiers knew about the weather. Weather could be the great determiner between failure and success, the great test of one's staying power.

One of the book's themes is the relationship between idealism and pragmatism in the minds of the Americans. On the one hand, the leaders of the American Revolution were men of the Enlightenment, rational and progressive. Yet at the same time, they also had a deeply romantic commitment to the cause of American liberty.

Had the American colonists simply approached things from a narrowly rational perspective, they would never even have considered fighting the British in the first place. The British had the most formidable fighting force of any nation in the world at that time, and so it was not unreasonable to think that any armed uprising against the mother county would be a suicidal venture.

Nonetheless, as McCullough ably demonstrates, the Americans also were driven by practical considerations to a considerable extent. It's notable, for example, that many men only chose to enlist after the Continental Congress authorized George Washington to pay his soldiers's wages in advance.

None of this is to say that such pragmatic concerns were always at the forefront of Americans's motivations for fighting; abstract notions of democracy and liberty also played their part. It's simply to make the point that idealistic and pragmatic considerations were always more effective in combination than in isolation.

McCullough makes clear that there was a vitality in action to the year that made it so defining for the Revolution.  One theme that is linked to this is how the Colonists seized the moment the year 1776 presented as their own.  From the meeting in Philadelphia of the Second Continental Congress in which the declaration of "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states" was made to victories on the battlefield at Trenton and Princeton, the Colonists did not fail to grasp the moment that the year provided them in catapulting them to victory. 

Another theme that is developed is the strength of individual leadership.  Men like Washington and Greene were vital in the Colonists' success because they were able to capture the imagination and will of Colonial fighters.  Given the immense difficulty of the task in front of them, it would have been unilkely that any other nondescript leader would do.  McCullough makes it clear that the American Revolution fared so well for the Colonists because they havd the dynamic leadership quality that inspired soldiers who fought for the cause.  For McCullough, “often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, [and] the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference.”  The development of these themes are vital to the narrative laid out for the reader.