Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom

　　

　　爭取自由的革命已然開展，人人皆是推動它的齒輪

　　

　　羅素‧修托根基於早期複雜的美國文化與政治，藉由日記、信件與自傳資料，透過六個人物的不同視角，重現獨立戰爭的樣貌。除了公眾人物如「未來的」總統華盛頓、塞內卡戰士Cornplanter和殖民統治者塞克維爾，也有小人物代表像是鞋匠、士兵之女與一個最終解放了自己的非裔移民。

　　

　　「令人驚艷：羅素‧修托展示這國家自從被發現後成為一個如何多元、迷人且世界性的地方。」—《1491：重寫哥倫布前的美洲歷史》作者查爾斯．曼恩 Charles C. Mann

　　

　　修托除了重現人物們在革命時期的生活環境，對日常細節的關注、內心的陳述更讓讀者對這段歷史的行進有更強的體認。為了個人自由的意義而戰，將哲學思想付諸武力實踐與改變。修托以忠於讀者的敘述文字，完整刻畫出美國承襲至今的價值觀。對於至今充斥各種威脅與危險的社會而言，追求自由的理想更值得我們來捍衛。(文/博客來編譯)

Russell Shorto's work has been praised as "first-rate intellectual history" (Wall Street Journal), "literary alchemy" (Chicago Tribune) and simply "astonishing" (New York Times).

In his epic new book, Russell Shorto takes us back to the founding of the American nation, drawing on diaries, letters and autobiographies to flesh out six lives that cast the era in a fresh new light. They include an African man who freed himself and his family from slavery, a rebellious young woman who abandoned her abusive husband to chart her own course and a certain Mr. Washington, who was admired for his social graces but harshly criticized for his often-disastrous military strategy.

Through these lives we understand that the revolution was fought over the meaning of individual freedom, a philosophical idea that became a force for violent change. A powerful narrative and a brilliant defense of American values, Revolution Song makes the compelling case that the American Revolution is still being fought today and that its ideals are worth defending.