Glorious Lessons

“Nuanced, engaging and incisive.”—Stephen Brumwell, Wall Street Journal

Listed by Wall Street Journal in “7 Books to Read for Independence Day”

“Succinct, both scholarly and direct. . . . Wonderful art history.”—Brian T. Allen, National Review

“Brookhiser’s engaging narrative keeps us in pursuit of the artist’s elusive destiny.”—Paul Beston, City Journal

“Brookhiser reveals an intriguing and sometimes complicated life.”—Michael Taube, Washington Examiner

“Richard Brookhiser brings his hard-earned knowledge to the founding era and his famously succinct style to the artist most responsible for our romanticized vision of the American Revolution. Brookhiser dissects John Trumbull’s ‘Glorious Lessons’ with an appreciative but critical eye.”—Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783

“Richard Brookhiser’s absorbing exploration of John Trumbull’s political and artistic imagination provides fresh and penetrating insights into the revolutionary period, one of the most intensely creative moments in Western history.”—Susan Dunn, author of Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, and the Decline of Virginia

“Brookhiser weaves a lively, insightful account of the life and iconic work of America’s first and foremost visual historian, John Trumbull, whose familiar paintings shape our memory of the Revolution.”—Mark D. Mitchell, Holcombe T. Green Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, Yale University Art Gallery