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…..:(
I think I'll check to see if our library has this book. Sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI just succcessfully requested it from our library; I wonder if there are any women who are included?!
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ReplyDeleteHa, 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 . . .
ReplyDeleteMakes you long for those days of united, doesn't it? Happy New Year to you and Mrs T.
ReplyDeleteSounds 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
ReplyDeleteAs 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.
ReplyDeleteI would probably enjoy that book and will check my library. Thanks.
I've read 5 or 6 Winchester books. I'll have to look for this one.
ReplyDeleteI miss the United part...just my opinion that Washington has gone astray:(
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am making note of this book!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year.
ReplyDeletesounds fun, we forget what made everything we have around us
Happy 2014 to you and yours. My wish for you is a year full of lots of JOY, PEACE, LOVE and BLESSINGS.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an interesting book. Happy New Year.
Hugs,
Betsy
Sounds interesting. I'm sending Happy New Year wishes to you and yours and look forward to many more interesting entries !
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year my friend!
ReplyDeletexo Catherine
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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