American Stories: Living American History: v. 1: To 1877

By Jason Ripper

Book Overview

Suitable for an introductory American history instructor who wants to make the subject more appealing, this book focuses on "personalized history" presented through biographies of famous and less-well-known figures from the colonial period to 1877.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765619180
• ISBN13: 9780765619181
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

AWESOME!

This book is awesome. It's informative, accessible, and interesting. Ripper's innovative approach of presenting historical events through the stories of important people makes his textbook read more like a novel - one that I looked forward to getting back to. Ripper brings history to life with vivid descriptions like the following: "As if heavy drinking and heavy clothes were not enough to bring the lords and ladies to their knees, at night they slept with the shutters closed, part of a medical regimen based on the notion that nighttime breezes brought swampy vapors - believed to be a major cause of disease. Unable to cool off, unable to properly sweat, they lay in their chamber tombs waiting for the morning's first drink." The biographies pulse with life, and Ripper expertly connects them to the larger world to give us both specific images of real lives and also a general picture of current events: "John's and Abigail's early letters to each other and to their acquaintances reflect a stable world and an interest in friends, family, and local matters. The Stamp Act changed all that." Ripper adds commentary to make us think as he portrays historical facts from unbiased angles. For example, he suggests that "Pocohontas and Smith could as easily be called a traitor and a thief as a pair of heroes... Perhaps it makes more sense not to call anyone a hero. And maybe at its best, history can help us see events from more than one perspective. One man's friend is another man's enemy." In giving us a broader perspective of history, Ripper presents the stories of women and minorities as much as the well-known white guys we've all heard of. As he says, "Without [Abigail Adams] and her American sisters, there would be no United States." I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn history by reading stories about the people who made this country what it is today.