History brought to life
935590
Snow Cream & Hard Cider brings history to a personal level.  If you enjoy knowing how people lived and survived in the early days of America this book is a great read.  The facts about upstate New York are tremendous.  I especially liked the way it is broken up into short stories.  Fun reading!
1252200
This History book was more than the just the usual facts of history....it is told in a story fashion that makes the reader want to continue to read the book.
423201
This was a wonderful read. The characters were brought to life by the descriptions in the book. I could picture the people and how they lived. It is an accurate description of history.
2093807
When you consider the history of pre-WWII, old Europe comes alive with the backdrop of the lives and conditions of the people that made this history. I really enjoyed the narrative and the themes that the author used to convey his view of history. I can almost visualize the places he set this story, noting the connections between all the characters. I really enjoyed this novel.
3987937
What first struck me were the similarities to today with the  same area.  A super historical illumination to life and the never severed connection to past events, to history.
4157151
A captivating story right out of the pages of our history giving those of us an educational view of what life was like for the people of that day.
3738037
Loved how the history made this story come alive! I could feel, hear and see the characters and the surroundings because of the authors engaging style of writing. This book is a great read especially for people who love historical time writing.
4582056
First let me admit that I enjoy history and learning about how people lived in different cultures and times.  So I tend to purchase books that promise that.
This book was one of the best at not only giving me a glimpse into what life was like in the middle ages in Europe, but in making me feel like I actually knew the characters as real people.  People often forget when talking about knights and serfs, kings and dukes, etc, that these were all real people, with personalities and attributes, hopes, dreams, and fears, just like people now.
This is the third book I have read by this author, and I have enjoyed them all.  I look forward to reading more from him.
113197
I love to see history brought alive! To see and understand that these wonderful men and women had both strength as well as weakness, yet they toiled on for the future of this country! Well done.
2202233
Having just visited Williamsburg, I read The River Where America Began.  It brought to life all of which I had just seen, but in clear vivid and historically correct detail.  I was instantly immersed into the culture and events of the time.  Bob Deans writes beautifully and I can't wait to see whats next.
211521
Ken Follett makes history live.  A well written history book with novel twists and turns.
56110
Interesting and liked the way history was brought to life with personable characters. They provided more than I ever thought I wanted to know about the building of the Hoover Dam. Remember seeing it as a child but now as an adult I'm even more impressed!
1750368
I wholly enjoyed reading this historical account that reads like a novel. I grew up in the Chicago area, and was never aware of these events and the people, good and bad. I love the way the author ties the events and people together and wraps it all up. I had a hard time putting it down, and found it stayed with me in my thoughts.
4369339
Even if you have an argument with the observation that history is biography, certainly history comes alive through personalities engagingly presented.  Seldom has this been more deftly done than by Cokie Roberts in her book "Founding Mothers."  Seeing the sweep of the Revolutionary War generation through the eyes of the women who were mothers, wives and daughters of the famous and not so famous men who are more often the subject of the historian's pen makes this book a genuinely compelling read.

Here we find Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, of course, along with lesser known luminaries who offer the reader an insider's view of those tumultuous times.  One enjoys reading about Peggy Shippen (Mrs. Benedict Arnold) and her role in her husband's treachery, just as much as the heroic sacrifices of some of the others profiled in this work.

In books of this kind - histories presented through the eyes of one or a group of persons - it is often the case that the personalities become subsumed in dates and facts.  Or, conversely, the dates and facts get sloughed aside, causalities of the storyteller's art.  Not so here.  Striking a balance, Miss Roberts gives us both.  She presents the facts but not "just the facts" she also presents the feelings of these women of renown.
430361
A wonderful trip through time and history seen through the eyes of 'normal' people that experienced the moment. A must read!
474070
I read about the Civil War a lot, but in this book I've found more rich detail about people than I've found in other histories. Makes it come alive; seem more immediate. You can feel the way history changed in that  year with every page. It's illuminating and riveting. I'll be sorry to  finish it!
4729890
I read the book whenever I had time between long flights or waiting at doctor's office.  The time flew by quickly.  Any history book can be too dry with many names and events, you will not remember, this book has that as well, but the author included lot of details stories which add texture,  color and reality to what took place many thousands and hundreds years ago.