Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!
With July 4th just passed, there’s never been a better time to ramp up your knowledge of our country’s history. Here are some new books owned by the Mercer County Library System that can help you do just that!
The American Revolution: A Concise History
By Robert J. Allison
“In a ‘concise’ history of a seminal episode, there is always the danger of a narrative that is a mile wide and an inch thick. Allison, professor of history at Suffolk University, generally avoids this pitfall by effectively concentrating on the major issues and events of the American Revolution. In describing the political context of the British Empire in the 1760s, he wisely indicates how peripheral the 13 colonies along the Atlantic seaboard were to colonial officials in London; their attention was focused on the sugar islands of the West Indies and on India. As tensions rose, Allison illustrates the legitimate concerns of both sides. The military struggle cannot be covered in detail, but he covers the major campaigns and makes a strong case to show that the underrated strategic brilliance of Washington was vital to American success. This highly readable account is ideal for general readers and can also be utilized for college survey courses in U.S. history.”—Booklist
God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War
By George C. Rable
Throughout the Civil War, soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict saw the hand of God in the terrible events of the day, but the standard narratives of the period pay scant attention to religion. Now, Lincoln Prize-winning historian George C. Rable offers a groundbreaking account of how Americans of all political and religious persuasions used faith to interpret the course of the war.
Examining a wide range of published and unpublished documents—including sermons, official statements from various churches, denominational papers and periodicals, and letters, diaries, and newspaper articles—Rable illuminates the broad role of religion during the Civil War, giving attention to often-neglected groups such as Mormons, Catholics, blacks, and people from the Trans-Mississippi region. The book underscores religion's presence in the everyday lives of Americans north and south struggling to understand the meaning of the conflict, from the tragedy of individual death to victory and defeat in battle and even the ultimate outcome of the war.
“Because of its thorough research and its chronicle of the lives of ordinary people, Rable's engrossing study of the role of religion in the Civil War will stand as the definitive religious history of America's most divisive conflict.”—Publishers Weekly
The Civil War: Exploring History One Week at a Time
By Dennis Gaffney and Peter Gaffney
Flawless storytelling, expert research, and a whole new way of providing history in intriguing, one-page essays makes The Civil War: Exploring History One Week at a Time a book that anyone interested in the topic will want to read.
This volume brings to life significant moments in our nation's heroic tragedy, the Civil War, and coincides with its 150th anniversary. The book is organized into 52 chapters, corresponding to the weeks in a year, and each week has a theme: what ignited the war, Antietam, soldiers' food and drink, the 54th Massachusetts, the Gettysburg Address, Vicksburg, medical care, Lincoln's assassination, why the North won, and many others. Each chapter includes seven related narrative entries, one for every day of the week. These one-page entries, which read like historical fiction, bring to life crucial political decisions, unforgettable people, key battlefield moments, scholarly debates, and struggles on the home front.
Sweep through the book from beginning to end, or use it as a reference book, periodically dipping in and out of topics you want to explore. It’s a bite of history a day, all year long!
Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation
By Alfred F. Young, Ray Raphael, Gary Nash
In 22 original essays, leading historians reveal the radical impulses at the founding of the American Republic. Here is a fresh new reading of the American Revolution that gives voice and recognition to a generation of radical thinkers and doers whose revolutionary ideals outstripped those of the Founding Fathers.
While the Founding Fathers advocated a break from Britain and espoused ideals of republican government, none proposed significant changes to the fabric of colonial society. As privileged and propertied white males, they did not seek a revolution in the modern sense; instead, they tried to maintain the underlying social structure and political system that enabled men of wealth to rule. They firmly opposed social equality and feared popular democracy as a form of “levelling.”
Yet during this “revolutionary” period some people did believe that “liberty” meant “liberty for all” and that “equality” should be applied to political, economic, and religious spheres. Here are the stories of individuals and groups who exemplified the radical ideals of the American Revolution more in keeping with our own values today. This volume helps us to understand the social conflicts unleashed by the struggle for independence, the Revolution’s achievements, and the unfinished agenda it left for future generations to confront.
Capture the Flag: The Stars and Stripes in American History
By Arnaldo Testi
We see it everywhere: on bumper stickers, tee shirts, lapel pins, in shop windows, and in front of nearly every school or government building. Yet while the American flag is ubiquitous, as a symbol it is both heavily freighted and misunderstood.
Now an acclaimed European professor of American history brings a fresh perspective to the American flag, exploring its political, social, and cultural significance across the broad swath of its history. Mining a rich vein of materials from history, literature, music, and popular culture, Arnaldo Testi analyzes the symbolic importance of the flag to the national consciousness of this “nation of immigrants” and sees in it the very contradictions that make up our history: secularism and sacredness, freedom and empire, inclusiveness and aggressive self-confidence.
Using sources as diverse as Walt Whitman and Jimi Hendrix, and events as divergent as the American Revolution, the moon landing, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Testi reveals the central importance of the flag to the creation of our nation, the evolution of our national character, and the spread of American culture and power across the globe, while illustrating the varied and often conflicting meanings different Americans ascribe to it.
The American Revolution: A Concise HistoryBy Robert J. Allison
“In a ‘concise’ history of a seminal episode, there is always the danger of a narrative that is a mile wide and an inch thick. Allison, professor of history at Suffolk University, generally avoids this pitfall by effectively concentrating on the major issues and events of the American Revolution. In describing the political context of the British Empire in the 1760s, he wisely indicates how peripheral the 13 colonies along the Atlantic seaboard were to colonial officials in London; their attention was focused on the sugar islands of the West Indies and on India. As tensions rose, Allison illustrates the legitimate concerns of both sides. The military struggle cannot be covered in detail, but he covers the major campaigns and makes a strong case to show that the underrated strategic brilliance of Washington was vital to American success. This highly readable account is ideal for general readers and can also be utilized for college survey courses in U.S. history.”—Booklist
God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil WarBy George C. Rable
Throughout the Civil War, soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict saw the hand of God in the terrible events of the day, but the standard narratives of the period pay scant attention to religion. Now, Lincoln Prize-winning historian George C. Rable offers a groundbreaking account of how Americans of all political and religious persuasions used faith to interpret the course of the war.
Examining a wide range of published and unpublished documents—including sermons, official statements from various churches, denominational papers and periodicals, and letters, diaries, and newspaper articles—Rable illuminates the broad role of religion during the Civil War, giving attention to often-neglected groups such as Mormons, Catholics, blacks, and people from the Trans-Mississippi region. The book underscores religion's presence in the everyday lives of Americans north and south struggling to understand the meaning of the conflict, from the tragedy of individual death to victory and defeat in battle and even the ultimate outcome of the war.
“Because of its thorough research and its chronicle of the lives of ordinary people, Rable's engrossing study of the role of religion in the Civil War will stand as the definitive religious history of America's most divisive conflict.”—Publishers Weekly
The Civil War: Exploring History One Week at a TimeBy Dennis Gaffney and Peter Gaffney
Flawless storytelling, expert research, and a whole new way of providing history in intriguing, one-page essays makes The Civil War: Exploring History One Week at a Time a book that anyone interested in the topic will want to read.
This volume brings to life significant moments in our nation's heroic tragedy, the Civil War, and coincides with its 150th anniversary. The book is organized into 52 chapters, corresponding to the weeks in a year, and each week has a theme: what ignited the war, Antietam, soldiers' food and drink, the 54th Massachusetts, the Gettysburg Address, Vicksburg, medical care, Lincoln's assassination, why the North won, and many others. Each chapter includes seven related narrative entries, one for every day of the week. These one-page entries, which read like historical fiction, bring to life crucial political decisions, unforgettable people, key battlefield moments, scholarly debates, and struggles on the home front.
Sweep through the book from beginning to end, or use it as a reference book, periodically dipping in and out of topics you want to explore. It’s a bite of history a day, all year long!
Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the NationBy Alfred F. Young, Ray Raphael, Gary Nash
In 22 original essays, leading historians reveal the radical impulses at the founding of the American Republic. Here is a fresh new reading of the American Revolution that gives voice and recognition to a generation of radical thinkers and doers whose revolutionary ideals outstripped those of the Founding Fathers.
While the Founding Fathers advocated a break from Britain and espoused ideals of republican government, none proposed significant changes to the fabric of colonial society. As privileged and propertied white males, they did not seek a revolution in the modern sense; instead, they tried to maintain the underlying social structure and political system that enabled men of wealth to rule. They firmly opposed social equality and feared popular democracy as a form of “levelling.”
Yet during this “revolutionary” period some people did believe that “liberty” meant “liberty for all” and that “equality” should be applied to political, economic, and religious spheres. Here are the stories of individuals and groups who exemplified the radical ideals of the American Revolution more in keeping with our own values today. This volume helps us to understand the social conflicts unleashed by the struggle for independence, the Revolution’s achievements, and the unfinished agenda it left for future generations to confront.
Capture the Flag: The Stars and Stripes in American HistoryBy Arnaldo Testi
We see it everywhere: on bumper stickers, tee shirts, lapel pins, in shop windows, and in front of nearly every school or government building. Yet while the American flag is ubiquitous, as a symbol it is both heavily freighted and misunderstood.
Now an acclaimed European professor of American history brings a fresh perspective to the American flag, exploring its political, social, and cultural significance across the broad swath of its history. Mining a rich vein of materials from history, literature, music, and popular culture, Arnaldo Testi analyzes the symbolic importance of the flag to the national consciousness of this “nation of immigrants” and sees in it the very contradictions that make up our history: secularism and sacredness, freedom and empire, inclusiveness and aggressive self-confidence.
Using sources as diverse as Walt Whitman and Jimi Hendrix, and events as divergent as the American Revolution, the moon landing, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Testi reveals the central importance of the flag to the creation of our nation, the evolution of our national character, and the spread of American culture and power across the globe, while illustrating the varied and often conflicting meanings different Americans ascribe to it.
- Lisa S.
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