The Elusive Republic

“This superbly crafted book is both a literary treat and necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand America’s Revolutionary era. . . . Filled with insights that a summary cannot begin to mention and argued with uncommon force, economy, and grace, this volume adds a new dimension to the evolving reinterpretation of the revolutionary vision of the 1770s.” — Journal of American History

“McCoy has both enlarged our understanding of early American history and given us a perspective from which to see the deficiencies of the republic today.” — Virginia Quarterly Review

“An imaginative and well-written book that will be necessary reading for all American historians concerned with the post-Revolutionary period.” — Journal of Economic History

“McCoy’s study of the contradictions and ambivalence of republican economic thought makes an important contribution to our understanding the Revolutionary era. . . . The Elusive Republic offers insights into the complex relationships between ideology and social change, between tradition and modernity.” — Virginia Magazine of History and Biography