The year of the Declaration of Independence, 1776, was an heroic date with destiny for America, the birth of noble principles of defining endurance for civilisation. But in this magnificent recounting of its torturous days, 1776 was a year of the most severe trial and doubt - a year of almost complete defeat of the American revolutionaries. That they triumphed was, as David McCulloch writes, "a miracle of a small band of determined men and their leader".