we have been there before

Pocket History of the United States by Henry Steele Commager
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is one the best reading choices i've made in a long while. I had not read any American history since i was in high school, and i could not have cared less about it then (sorry H.S. teachers, it was not your fault). Re-reading history as a grown adult is a whole different experience. The relevance of persons, events and policies is much clearer after living the majority of your adult life interacting with the results and consequences of them. I have come up with a list of presidents i want to read more about: Jefferson, Wilson, FDR. And as dysfunctional as things seem at this moment of our history, i have learned that we have been there before and somehow survived. Therefore, i come away with a sense of hope that somehow, once again, the American spirit that created this amalgamation of peoples will show the path out of this, yet another, dark chapter in our history. Moving on from this book, i'll read Howard Zinn's classic "A People's History of the United States" next, then some books related to my favorite president list. Here's hoping we are not too far gone to survive.



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