1898: The Birth of the American Century

By David Traxel

Book Overview

In 1898: The Birth of the American Century, David Traxel tells the story of a watershed year, a year of foreign conflict, extravagant adventure, and breakneck social change that forged a new America--a sudden empire with many far-flung possessions, a dynamic new player upon the global stage.

At the heart of this vivid, anecdotal history is a masterly account of the Spanish-American War, the splendid little war that garnered the nation Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. From the sinking of the Maine in waters off Havana to Teddy Roosevelt's rough riders and the triumph of Admiral Dewey, here is the lightning-swift military episode that transformed America into a world power. Here too are many stories not so often told--the bloody first successes of the new United Mine Workers, the tentative beginnings of the Ford Motor Company, the million-dollar launch of the Uneeda Biscuit--each in its way as important as the harbinger of the American century. Compulsively readable, frequently humorous, utterly fascinating in its every detail, 1898 is popular history at its finest.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679776710
• ISBN13: 9780679776710
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

America Emerges on the World Stage

David Traxel's "1898" examines the year that the author felt that America really began to make its presence felt on the world stage. As you might expect, much of the book recounts the Spanish-American War. The author's account of the war and its effects is a good one, detailing the experience of the soldiers who fought the war in addition to the experience of the military officers and politicians who led the war effort. Traxel also looks at the ways in which American society was rapidly changing just prior to the turn of the twentieth century. Inventions such as automobiles and motion pictures are mentioned. Issues such as race relations, political machines, and labor issues were salient at the time, and are discussed. America was becoming a mass society, as evidenced by the fact that manufacturers were using more sophisticated advertising techniques to sell their products to a continental nation. Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and William McKinley are only a few of the colorful characters examined in this absorbing look at the year 1898.

Entertaining if neither Definitive or Substantial

David Traxel has taken the year 1898 as, to quote the subtitle, the birth of the American century. He has many good and valuable reasons for doing so as is made obvious as the book, and the year, unfold before the reader. It is all here from the growing imperialism of the United States as it becomes involved in Cuba and the Philippine, as well as labour disputes, the growth of businesses such as Uneeda Biscuit and the Ford Motor Company, in addition to many more assorted characters and stories running throughout this history. Ms. Tuchman in the Proud Tower effectively covered some of the same issues, particulary the U.S. involvement with Cuba, in a very efficient fashion that laid events out a little more plainly. David Traxel does, on occasion, feel the need to soften or defend American actions. The book is still entertaining, though, and hopefully would lead a reader to learn more about the interesting events and people presented here.

Pretty Good!

I had to read this book because of a school assignment, but if I didn't have to, then it would have been an even greater book. The insights he shares with his readers are well put, & the anecdotal form makes the book move fast, which keeps the book interesting.

Excellent read

Every once in awhile, one runs across a book that fits the catagory of a must read. This is one for that list. Should be required reading for all students and non-students. It certainly did fill in gaps in American History that I did not know existed.

A short overview of an important year

Much has been written on the Spanish American War and TR, some in very thick books. For the busy reader who wants to know about those two subjects and more, this is a good introduction. It covers most of the major events plus interesting observations about the times.