My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times - An Autobiography by Harold Evans |
Essential English: For Journalists, Editors and Writers (Pimlico) by Harold Evans |
by Hugh Brogan
|
The American Future: A History from the Founding Fathers to Barack Obama by Simon Schama |
![The Fog Of War [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G0JHDNFKL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Robert McNamara
|
|
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Although most of this sprawling book is set in the 20th century, it begins on April 29, 1889, when Benjamin Harrison commemorated the first centennial of American government. This 11-year jump-start allows Harold Evans to write about the last major push to settle the Western territories, the gradual displacement of Native American societies, the rise to prominence of William Jennings Bryan and other quintessentially American moments of the 19th century.
But make no mistake about it--The American Century is very much rooted in the modern world. Evans's tight, journalistic prose marks the significant events and personages in America's rise to superpower status and offers several educational surprises, such as a two-page spread on too-little-known naval historian Alfred Mahan, whose The Influence of Sea Power upon History shaped foreign policy in America and several European nations. His treatments of the civil rights movement of the fifties and sixties and the Watergate crisis are substantial highlights. Juxtapositions such as Ralph Nader and Rachel Carson, or Jimmy Hoffa and Cesar Chavez make for a lively overview. The book essentially ends with the inauguration of George Bush in 1989, although brief mention is made to some of what has happened since then. Filled with photographs and contemporary editorial cartoons, The American Century is an excellent one-volume chronicle of a rather momentous 100 years.
Review
As the USA began its second century in 1889, it was a vital and optimistic country full of energy and invention, but it would have been hard to predict the impact the country would have on the century to come. This entertainingly written book, crammed with fascinating photographs, is the story of that impact. It is, as all histories of America seem to be, the story of a love affair. There is something about this big, rambling country - with a self-confidence that borders on arrogance, an optimism that is unmatched in the world and enough contradictions to excite any psychiatrist - that seems to attract everyone (many of the best books on America are written by non-Americans). But that does not mean it is uncritical. Evans is drawn particularly to key moments of political and economic change, and his analysis of the mean spirit and the selfishness displayed at such moments as Senator McCarthy's duplicitous and self-serving attack on non-existent communists is devastating. For all the spectacle of its many and fascinating photographs, this is essentially a political history of America; it tells us in great detail how America made itself and made the world. A familiar story but huge, enthralling and refreshingly told. (Kirkus UK)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
 |
86% buy the item featured on this page: The American Century: People, Power and Politics - An Illustrated History |
 |
13% buy Good Times, Bad Times |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
 |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
Your Recent History
(What's this?)|
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. |
