Rating: 
Summary: pretty good for a required book
Review: this book was assigned as my summer reading for high school. it wasn't as bad as some of the other books that we are required to read, but the first part is a bit slow but it speeds up at the end. i agree that there is too much talking, but it goes deeper into the characters than many other books that i have read. each character is portrayed very uniquely and i find franklin to be the most entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: A Riviting Account
Review: Though this book is categorized as historical fiction, it is a must read for any enthusiast of American Revolutionary history. In the same cogent style as Michener's TEXAS, Shaara manages to successfully meld fiction with historical accuracy. Shaara does a fabulous job of giving life and character to the parties involved in the circumstances leading up to the American Revolution. The book begins with the events surrounding the Boston Massacre and takes the reader on a stimulating journey through the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. Terrific insight is given to the personalities involved. If there is a flaw to this book, it is the authors' incessant love for the use of descriptive adjectives and punctuation. You will find hard to comprehend sentence structure on occasion. I recall sentences containing up to 10 commas and recall sentences that had to be reread to fully comprehend, but this book is definitely worth the effort. This is the type of historically accurate book that could be used to stimulate interest among students in American classrooms. If you want to know more about the events that led to the American Revolution, read this book. Shaara holds the readers' interest by giving personality to historical figures and you will find yourself riveted to this book. The featured characters of the book are Franklin, Adams, Washington and Gage, with strong emphasis on other characters such as Hutchinson, Sam Adams, Dickenson and Jefferson. Shaara won my admiration with this book and I will definitely be adding more of his works to my collection.
Rating:
Summary: Another Shaara Masterpiece
Review: When "Rise To Rebellion" was released last year, it was advertised as part 1 of a 2 part novel of the American Revolution. I decided to wait for part 2 to be published and then I would read them one after the other. I've just finished part 1 and consider it an extraordinarily interesting and well-written volume. Shaara's style is, as in his Civil War works, to follow key participants in a very personal way, making use of fictional dialogue. Fictional, but quite believable. I found this book far more entertaining than the best-selling "John Adams" biography. Shaara covers all the famous pre-1776 events--the Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, Paul Revere's ride, Lexington and Concord--in a fluid manner that places each event into the overall framework of the Revolution. This book concludes with the signing of the Declaration of Independence (what was the only colony not to vote yes at the initial vote?) and I can't wait to get going on part 2, "The Glorious Cause".
Rating:
Summary: Rise to Literary Greatness
Review: When I opened Jeff Shaara's Rise to Rebellion, I opened the door of a time machine, and was promptly ushered into the pre-Revolution time period. While Shaara's work remains technically historical fiction, he nails the time period, and most of the founding Fathers. Why couldn't my history teacher have given me this book and its companion, the Glorious Cause? You can learn a lot of history in an entertaining fashion from Professor Shaara. He just keeps getting better, and every history buff should have his work.
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