[gutzmank]

In my estimation, the best general survey is John Richard Alden’s _A History of the American Revolution_. It deals with the military, political, and diplomatic components of the story in a fascinating, reliably scholarly way. _1776_, like most of McCullough’s books, is popular with book buyers, but essentially pointless: he never tells you why you should care about the story he tells, or even what came of it. The book just starts and ends. If you want something more specific, please do say what it is. There are thousands of books on various aspects of the Revolution, and so you can read about any part of the story that you want.