| Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America | 
 enlarge | Author: James Webb
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  135 reviews
Sales Rank: 17177
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0767916891
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.049162
EAN: 9780767916899
ASIN: 0767916891
Publication Date: October 11, 2005
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Product Description
More than 27 million Americans today can trace their lineage to the Scots, whose bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and later in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America in theeighteenth century, traveling in groups of families and bringing with them not only longexperience as rebels and outcasts but also unparalleled skills as frontiersmen and guerrilla fighters. Their cultural identity reflected acute individualism, dislike of aristocracy and a military tradition, and, over time, the Scots-Irish defined the attitudes and values of the military, of working class America, and even of the peculiarly populist form of American democracy itself.
Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role ithas played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as “captivating . . . unforgettable” (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character.
Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music.
Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 130 more reviews...
 A Bluegrass Review August 15, 2008
Being from the Bluegrass state, I am related and neighbors to the ethnic group spoke of so well by Senator Webb. This book is entertaining as well as informative. I have read one of his novels but will be trying the others soon.
I found my roots July 13, 2008
This book was a revelation to me. It explained so much about my Southern heritage and made me appreciate my Scots Irish ancestry. I always admired my father's "indifference to wealth" without realizing that this was a common trait among Scots-Irish Americans. I want to read more of Jim Webb's books since I enjoyed this one so much.
A Time To Fight July 12, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A must read for anyone who has an interest in our current world problems as well as current economic issues we are facing
GREAT READ , HOWEVER , PRINTING JOB WAS SLOPPY July 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I READ BORN FIGHTING AS A BOOK CLUB ASSIGNMENT AND OBTAINED THE BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY . I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH THAT I ORDERED FIVE PAPERBACKS TO GIVE AS GIFTS . AFTER ABOUT 250 PAGES THE BOOKS REVERTED TO PAGE 45 AND REPEATED ABOUT 30 PAGES AND THEN RESUMED THE STORY AT ABOUT 285. THE RESULT WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING AND EMBARRASSING TO ME . I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS ANY RECOURCE TO THE PRINTER OR TO AMAZON.COM BUT I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW IF THIS HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE .
Understanding and appreciating my Scots-Irish family June 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I share Scots-Irish heritage with the author--born in a remote mountain area to a family that was poor, fiercely independent, mostly self-taught and proud. Jim Webb has written a book that explains much about this how hard-to-categorize part of the population thinks and acts.This is good reading for anyone who shares this heritage, and should be required reading for those who work with or interact with us!
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