At first glance, did not think I was going to enjoy this, even in spite of devouring and embracing Wood's other historical works (most recently, Empire of Liberty), but this is an outstanding collection of essays on the creation of America. They range in chronology from the 1960s until the present time and explore themes like Roman (founders all big devotees and disciples of Cato, Cicero, etc.… able to recite lines and relished in theater enactments) influence on the founders, the "radicalism" of Paine and Jefferson, the American brew of Enlightenment, monarchy v. democracy (democracy simply had no historical precedent, except for the brief, crude and flawed Athenian model thousands of years earlier), democracy v. republic, etc.…
If the "American Creation" story interests you, you will want to read this.
2 comments:
Mark, thanks for your comment and for following my blog. I'm happy to reciprocate. Do you know any of our Franciscan sisters in Spokane? We have several who minister at St. Joseph Family Center which is one of our congregation's sponsored ministries.
Gordon Wood is my favorite historian. I am getting this book for Christmas.
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