An excellent slice of American History.
343723
Mr. Marshall's straightforward description of his experience growing up and thriving in the face of constant discrimination fascinated me.  He simply stated the facts while weaving his stories and those of his family, friends, colleagues and adversaries into a walk through twentieth century America.  His decision to leave the safe haven of a government job (once he was finally allowed into that arena) is a tribute to his courage and his desire to help pave the path of success for others.

I highly recommend this book to a wide assortment of readers especially those interested in history, tax, law and family relations as well as those looking for a role model.  His references to other books, such as Ivan Houston's Black Warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II, assist in getting these too often overlooked parts of the American experience into the public eye.

Thank you for sharing your story, Mr. Marshall!
2069834
This is an excellent book for anyone interested in learning the true history of the states. At times I felt myself smile with a heart warming sentiment about what it means to be an American. The book is very well written, and I highly recommend it.
1735440
This is a wonderful work.  Just one of the problems in getting a handle on our history is getting a grasp of what our Founding consisted of.  Too often we think America in 1776 was pretty much like today, just smaller and older - and possibly more noble.  However, Professor Wilentz shows us more of the component parts and the complex mix of attitudes that led not only to the Founding, but the Constitutional Convention and that changes that wrought.  However, this book is not a simple narrative of events.  Wilentz also takes us on a tour of interests, attitudes, and how all these interactions, collisions, fights, and wars played out into something no one could have expected on July 4, 1776.

It would be pointless for me to try and capture here the vast amount of information and the wonderful insights this book provides the reader.  However, if you capture what it was the Federalists called Democracy you will realize that what we have today would have horrified them.  There was a definite move over time that the culture made from monarchy to a representative democracy and then an ongoing series of redefinitions of who it was that was to be represented and how.  The Federalists disappeared over time because the idea of a government by the deserving men of fine birth and bearing was not compatible with the raucous yearnings of a nation exploding across a continent.

Unless you are already a deep student of American history, you will read about political parties, conflicts, people, and maneuverings that you had never even suspected to have existed.  And reading about them makes the responses and changes in our form of government over time make a lot more sense.  This book avoids projecting our present judgments about the past into the intentions and choices the historical figures who made those choices and had those intentions.  While the author does a superb job of distilling the past for us, he never feels the need to make things so neat and tidy that he falsifies the past from over-simplification.  However, it makes the modern reader have to admit that his or her beliefs about our history were too pat and were not serving him as well as he had thought, at least that was my experience as I turned the pages only to be disabused of something else.

This wonderful book ends with the firing on Fort Sumter, but not before he shows all the complex dancing the political forces did to avoid war and then to finally plunge into it.  I found Wilentz's discussion of the various brands of secession that competed for priority and had to come together in order to try and make their attempt at forming a new nation viable.  The epilogue of the book picks us right after the war and summarizes what issues had been settled because of the conflict and what trends in our development remained open.  The final page includes of photograph of the thirteen man jury empanelled for the trial of Jefferson Davis that never occurred.  Seven of the thirteen citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia (12 jurors plus one alternate) were black.  The country had come a long way since its founding.  The fact that there are no women on that panel is just a small reminder of how far the Republic yet to travel on its road to our day.

This is a book you will gain a great deal from if you will allow yourself to put in the time.  It isn't something you can simply dash through.  It rewards careful reading and consideration and the rewards are wonderful.
1300982
Ellis provides an excellent introduction to the early history of the United States.  By examining 6 of the pre-eminent figures in the creation and early leadership of the nation, readers get a feel for who these great minds were as people, rather than as the stuffy "founding fathers" of typical history books.  They are exposed for all their inconsistencies, pettiness, quarrels, rivalries and vanities, making them human - and, to Ellis' credit, no less brilliant.  A remarkable book and worthy of reading.
1856855
This book was my first exposure to the Barbary Pirates and that era of American foreign policy. It is a terrifically interesting period of American history. America,the young nation dealing with foreign policy issues in North Africa where local Muslim powers are capturing ships and demanding ransom. The Bashaw of Tripoli and his history with the politics of that region in the early 1800s is rendered more relevant given current events.

It is a truly human read with the strengths and weaknesses of those portrayed exposed. This is not sugar coated American history, be advised.
954341
I'm not a history buff per se but I found the James family collection of letters fascinating because it tells the story of an African-American family that was solidly middle class in the late 1800s at a time in America's history when most people were poor or struggling. Though historically rich, the book is told through the original voices of family members through their letters to one another so the reading is engaging and fast-paced.  I wish I had read more like it when I was in school.
1441047
Recommend it highly to any reader who treasures American history. It is a fascinating enjoyable read for those who want to know these heroes that changed our nation.
104965
This book is one terrific read for anyone who wants to obtain a real feel of what it must have been like to have actually been in the American colonies during the Revolution. It consists in large part of excerpts from diaries, letters and other records from a variety of participants, both high in position and humble, and from both sides of the conflict. The author then connects, fills in  and interprets these events in a graceful style. The war is not glamorized or romanticized and the narrative includes many fascinating details of life at the time. You come away with a startling sense of immediacy and not only with heroic actions (of which there were no shortage), but also just how harsh, brutal and terrifying war and life in general could be in those distant days.
 Since Rae quotes from both the British and American sides, you are  given surprising, and with the benefit of hindsight, often amusing opinions. A good example is that of Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" which electrified and motivated the colonies to continue the war, as compared to the sourly negative opinion of the work by Admiral Lord Howe's secretary.
 Then there were the quotations from the account of  Private Joseph Martin from Milford Connecticut, who was barely sixteen when he enlisted and whose adventures carried him through the whole war. He gives for example, a stirring account of Washington's retreat through Brooklyn and Manhattan with its now strange description of both boroughs as a countryside  of fields and farms.
 And so it goes, from the siege of Boston to the battles of Saratoga and Yorktown with often graphic descriptions by those who were there. This is a splendid book, and makes history as exciting as though you were living it yourself.
2332353
I am reminded of a television program from the fifties called You Were There.  Walter Cronkite was the narrator and the program took an historical event and placed you there.  Doug Shupinski has certainly done that with A Glimpse of Freedom.  I wish that school systems would find this novel and share with their students.  What an excellent way to view our history.  I look forward to the next Chapter.  Well done.
764863
One of the best American history books I've read. This book will give you a better understanding & appreciation of the political differences that divide us today. Our contemporary differences seem intractable; however, the sharp divides were present then as they are now.  Reading about the background of the 13 states in the 18th century is fascinating: Fishers & sailors - the North; farmers in the Central; and planters South).  The cultural differences were great. States showed themselves to be jealous, preferring to fight each other over boundaries as yet unsettled and to pass tariff laws against each other. All the while, Spain and England looked on the disorganized infant republic with a hungry eye, calculating their own interests in LA, FL, OH, and the long, vital trade route of the Mississippi River. The Great Debate regarding proportional vs. equal state representation will make you view what happens in our current elections with a wiser perspective. After reading this book, you will agree, it was a miracle the Constitution was written and passed.
3886794
I really enjoyed reading about American History. This book gave an insight to the American history in a way that I could remember. I would recommend this book  to all who is intrested in American History
4910160
An absolutely first-rate read, filled with enlivening detail in service of an engrossing narrative. You will not regret reading this compelling slice of American history.
776163
A beautifully captured slice of American Pie. A zoom lens snapshot of early 20th century life on the farm. The photos alone are incredible, 250+ of pristine quality, all taken and preserved by one family, of plain ole' everyday life.  The narrative story is told in two voices. One voice provides well-researched background and history, the glue that melds the story together. The other is a voice so colloquially authentic and personal she is almost audible. This book is a treasure to US history, and a delightful gift to anyone who has his/her own memories of growing up on a farm.
1432471
This book is about a fascinating segment of American history. It is well written and well researched.  A true pleasure to read.
4461312
Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 is a wonderful addition to the Pivotal Moments in American History being published by the Oxford University Press.  John Ferling does a superb job, in fairly short order, bringing the reader into the time when our nation was in its nascent stages - prior to political parties dominating the electoral landscape. He describes robustly and vividly the radically differing ideas between the Federalists and Anti Federalists (Republicans).  The book traces the ideological roots of the struggle between those favoring a strong central government and those favoring a much loser confederation of states.

Both Adams and Jefferson are treated fairly and evenly by Ferling.  Their growing differences and eventual break are covered well.  This work clearly demonstrates that the American Revolution didn't end at Yorktown but, rather, continued as a political struggle through a clash of ideologies both in the press and on the ballot.  Interestingly, it also shows the ugliness of current American politics is far from new.  Some of the vitriol written then about the leaders of the time is alone worth the read.

The rather quick decline of the paternal and elitist Federalist Era is a topic that other authors seem to have trouble limiting their pages on.  Ferling, while fairly thorough, is quick in his analysis.  He traces the political struggle that led to the demise of Federalism in the contentious and pivotal election of 1800 back to and including the Revolution itself.

Ferling's writing is direct and highly engaging.  "Unlike Adams, Jefferson had never wavered in his belief that the American Revolution had been a glorious success.  The `flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776 have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism,' he remarked in 1821, adding that the `light and liberty are on a steady advance".  In his final letter, written in 1826, Jefferson reiterated his belief that the American Revolution had been, and would continue to be, `the signal arousing men to burst the chains' that bound them and to secure the `blessings and security of self-government'".

This is one terrific book on a very interesting period in American history.  I can't imagine anyone with any appreciation of our history not greatly enjoying it.
815397
Did not love the ending, but learned a lot about this piece of American history. I would recommend this book
41110
This period in our American history is of great interest to me now, not so much when I was a young student.  The book gave a clear portrayal of the settling of the Colonies with regard to the relationship with native Indians.  The Indian culture and daily life was clearly portayed, thus would appeal to readers from middle school and beyond.  The one fault and frustration was no glossary.
Indian language was used throughout and one had to guess what it meant.  I would have like a reference of explanation...like any foreign language.  However, the characters were real and I found it a delightful and insightful read.