"The Radicalism of the American Revolution" 1

Two comments before I begin discussing this book, by Gordon Wood:

1) In reading the book, I seem to have stumbled into the middle of an argument, and I'm hearing only one side of it. Wood is tackling the question of the extent to which the American Revolution was, in fact, a revolution - a social upheaval as well as a political one, as the French and Russian Revolutions so clearly were. I have several other texts on the Revolution, but as far as I recall - it has been quite a while since I read any of them - none of them address this particular question. So, I'm not really in a position to weigh Wood's arguments against the arguments of those who disagree with him. All I can do is lay them out, to the extent that I understand them, and perhaps raise a question or two.

2) This is a meaty book, so I'm not going to try to cover it all at once. It is divided into three parts, titled "Monarchy", "Republicanism", and "Democracy", and I will divide my discussion accordingly.

( Monarchy )

Headscratching

Sometimes, one learns the oddest things about oneself, via the oddest sources.

This afternoon, I flipped on the TV just in time to catch the ending of "Count Yorga, Vampire". (That was what happened to be on the channel it was set to, honest. I didn't seek it out.)

a) I took one look and thought, "Hmm. Looks like the '70s." Hit the "info" button: 1970.
b) I was momentarily disconcerted when Count Yorga was staked and did not immediately turn to dust.
c) I was not at all startled by the "shock ending", because it was essentially the same as the ending of "The Fearless Vampire Killers".

I think I've seen too many movies, and too much about vampires.