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A Good Read about American History

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RonMacPherson

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If anyone is up to a good read, and it is more interesting and not written like a textbook.

America's Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis...

If you're like me, hard to put down...

A very well written (and researched, by his bibliography listings) book about some of the formative years of our country.
 
There's quite a lot of "revisionist" history being published these days, and it can be very interesting if it's well done. I'll have to look for this one.
 
Do they still teach history in school?
 
Ah, the topic of "revisionist" history being raised.


I too was curious, so did a little checking on some of his bibliographies. The ones I checked are in order. Some of the statements he made about the pre-constitution days building of our federal government (Shay's rebellion) are well known, just not widely taught.

Gotta remember, History is written by the winners....
 
TR6OldTimer said:
Do they still teach history in school?
Click to expand...

Brooklands said:
Only if it fits in with the state tests...
Click to expand...

sad but increasingly true.

Interesting article in the current Economist: "Please, sir, what is history?"

https://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12781181 One of my favorite lines from the article: <span style="font-style: italic">"Exams come in competing varieties from independent exam boards that must, like teachers, read between the lines to figure out what is meant to have been taught."</span>

Another good read on this subject: Joseph Ellis, "American Creation", 2007. Continues the recent trend of showing how extraordinary events and circumstances brought ordinary people to cobble together an extraordinary new political system.

Tom
 
NutmegCT said:
Another good read on this subject: Joseph Ellis, "American Creation", 2007. Continues the recent trend of showing how extraordinary events and circumstances brought ordinary people to cobble together an extraordinary new political system.
Click to expand...

"American exceptionalism" isn't a particularly recent trend- goes back to John Winthrop's "City on a Hill" circa 1630... one might observe that Americans have always thought themselves unique....
 
JamesWilson said:
NutmegCT said:
Another good read on this subject: Joseph Ellis, "American Creation", 2007. Continues the recent trend of showing how extraordinary events and circumstances brought ordinary people to cobble together an extraordinary new political system.
Click to expand...

"American exceptionalism" isn't a particularly recent trend- goes back to John Winthrop's "City on a Hill" circa 1630... one might observe that Americans have always thought themselves unique....
Click to expand...

I would imagine that everyone thinks him- or herself unique!

As for "revisionist", seems to me that history is constantly "at risk" of being rewritten as more data gets uncovered...
 
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