A. R. Fofanova

States University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, the USA, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: annafofanova@gmail.com

RAKOVE J. N. REVOLUTIONARIES : A NEW HISTORY OF THE INVENTION OF AMERICA. Boston, 2011. 496 p.

The following review analyses the book of J. N. Rakove, dedicated to collective biography of the American Revolution leaders. The author rejects accepted notions of the “founding fathers” as godlike visionaries, who were meant to play crucial role in American history. J. Rakove focuses on the evolution of the ideological views of the “founding fathers” and the process of establishing their political careers. The key question of this book: “How can we explain the emergence and formation of the political leaders’ group, which led to the independence of the American colonies?”.

Keywords: American Revolution, the War of Independence, “founding-fathers”, the USA history, collective biography, historiography.

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