Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Monday, December 30, 2013

The Men Who United the States


The Men Who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible   is a fresh, lively, and entertaining look at the way in which the United States bonded together into one nation.  There are a few clinkers in the book but then this is history and misinterpretation does happen.  Basically, Winchester’s book follows the explorers, the visionaries, and the inventors who opened the paths and built the infrastructure and the communication links that made unity possible.  Some of these people, like Lewis and Clark, Thomas Edison are well known to history buffs. Others are not.
Winchester peculiarly largely skips over the Civil War and uses the phrase “War between the States,” the euphemism favored by post-war Confederate apologists to deny that the south fought to defend slavery.  Unity based on human bondage was as Lincoln said “a house divided that could not stand.”

 "The Men Who United the States" held my attention with lots of new (to me) people and information encased in a good story. The authors theme of national good will and unity is a good one. Looking at todays headlines and hearing the rantings of today’s talk radio wingnuts I’m beginning to wonder if that theme is still true…..:(

 

17 comments:

  1. I think I'll check to see if our library has this book. Sounds interesting.

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  2. I just succcessfully requested it from our library; I wonder if there are any women who are included?!

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  4. Ha, I see you found the typo. It was "attrition" in Reader but you changed it to "attention" here. I never do that sort of thing. Well hardly ever. Well . . .

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  5. Makes you long for those days of united, doesn't it? Happy New Year to you and Mrs T.

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  6. Sounds like one of his "clinkers" you mentioned in his book was that his "unity" required that one should be a white male. Also, you mention that he skipped over the slavery issue -- did he also skip over the native American genocide issue? Afterall our poor treatment of native Americans helped white men to succeed. -- thanks -- barbara

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  7. As I was schooled in both the north and the south, I am well aware of the quite different view points about the reasons for the Civil War.
    I would probably enjoy that book and will check my library. Thanks.

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  8. I've read 5 or 6 Winchester books. I'll have to look for this one.

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  9. I miss the United part...just my opinion that Washington has gone astray:(

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  10. This sounds fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  11. I am making note of this book!
    I myself just finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And the Mr. just finished Flags of Our Fathers.
    He received the DVD series Band of Brothers for Christmas, and we've been watching them in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed. They're very intense.

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  12. I checked with Amazon and the book is available in the UK and on Kindle. Perfect gift for a family member, so thank you for sharing with us.

    Happy New Year.

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  13. sounds fun, we forget what made everything we have around us

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  14. Happy 2014 to you and yours. My wish for you is a year full of lots of JOY, PEACE, LOVE and BLESSINGS.

    Looks like an interesting book. Happy New Year.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  15. Sounds interesting. I'm sending Happy New Year wishes to you and yours and look forward to many more interesting entries !

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  16. Happy New Year my friend!
    xo Catherine

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  17. Winchester is quite a good writer. I enjoyed his Krakatoa book....and I saw this one at the bookstore at Xmas time. I may have to chase it down :)

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