What Every American Should Know About American History... || ...not at all dry and dusty..!!
Written: Aug 29 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Highly 'readable'. History storytelling at its finest.
Cons: Cursory illustrations, no maps.
The Bottom Line: Interested readers will find this an engaging, highly enjoyable primer of the important events in American history that have steered us to this day.
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| sleeper54's Full Review: Alan Axelrod and Charles Phillips - What Every Ame... |
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There is an old saw: 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' Attributed to Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, it hints at the value in knowing of and understanding the successes and failures of those who came before.
Man is the only animal that remembers the past and interprets it. Researching, recording, and interpreting the past, i.e. history, are activities for an advanced and curious mind. What Every American Should Know About American History: 200 Events That Shaped the Nation will definitely 'advance' your mind and satisfy your curiosity.
Historian Dr. Alan Axelrod and co-author Charles Phillips deliver succinct summaries of 200 events dating from the earliest days of recorded North American history.
Each entry has a brief one or two sentences stand-alone summary. A longer section follows, 'filling out' the setting, the characters and their motivations, and the longer term effect on the history of America. I found each entry, almost without exception, to be clear, accurate, and entertaining to read.
The two hundred events begin before there even was an 'America'. For example, the first entry:
Leif Ericson Explores Vinland (A.D. 1000)
The event: Around A. D. 1000 Norse captain Leif Ericson, out of Greenland, struck land in present-day Newfoundland, establishing a village he called Vinland, the first European colony in North America."
The longer, complete entry gives a taste of the 'attitude' of the authors. For instance, commenting on fighting between the natives and the Norse they note:
"The Viking explorations, which seemed to Norsemen to have resulted in the discovery of a new land, apparently struck the Native Americans as an attempt to invade their homeland."
This ability to see both 'the good' and 'the bad' in the events selected is repeatedly demonstrated in the book. The authors often find a clever way to highlight the 'good and bad' which makes the writing anything but dry and dusty.
Each selection seems long enough to describe the event and set it in the tableau of American history. In contrast to a later book authored by Axelrod that seems to hurry through its descriptions of 1001 People Who Made America this tome takes the time, and the words, to breathe life, meaning, and relevance (past and future) into each event.
For instance, the entry World War II Begins with a Sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) not only describes the immediate events surrounding that 'day of infamy' but also goes on to summarize over six pages the entire course of the war and its effect on America and its citizens.
All areas of American history are covered: early exploration; founding, growth, and expansion of the U.S.; politics; wars; rebellions; religion; the arts; engineering feats; inventors and innovators; criminals and miscreants; sports; munificent citizens; and on and on.
The Bottom Line
The fifth century B.C. Greek Herodotus of Halicarnassus is said to be the first historian. It was his skill in storytelling that led to his success as a historian.
That same skill in storytelling is displayed time and again in What Every American Should Know About American History: 200 Events That Shaped the Nation. Readers at a middle school level or above should find it an engaging and highly enjoyable primer of the important events in American history that have steered us to this day.
Certified 'lean-n-mean' review.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sleeper54
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