America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide) [Paperback]

Suzanne Sheumaker (Author), Craig Sheumaker (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Traveler's Guide | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

This is a new kind of history-oriented U.S. travel book, one that not only showcases premier destinations but also uses their histories to tell the story of early America. It focuses on the period before the 1840s westward movement and features 300 of the nation's best living history parks, historic sites and "museum plus" destinations. Information is arranged two ways: by region and field of interest. Chapters focus on America's Native Peoples, European Colonization, Religious and Secular Groups, Road to Independence, Our New Nation and Opening the West. Included are brief historical perspectives, travel maps, tourist information, 500 color photographs and a detailed index.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suzanne & Craig Sheumaker have traveled over 125,000 miles by car and motorhome in recent years, exploring America and visiting hundreds of historic and scenic attractions. Suzanne is a long-time professional writer, and Craig is a graphic designer/photographer. Thanks to portable computers and the Internet, they have been able to work for a wide variety of clients while traveling. Early in their adventures, they developed an interest, and then a passion, for Living History museums and historic sites. They also came to realize that too many of these attractions are hidden gems, unknown to most Americans. Moving and insightful encounters with our nation's remarkable past compelled them to create this unusual travel guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Red Corral Publishing; 1st edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979259800
• ISBN-13: 978-0979259807
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IF THIS ONE DOES NOT MAKE YOU WANT TO HIT THE ROAD, NOTHING WILL!, July 4, 2007

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide) (Paperback)

My wife and I have been traveling America's back roads and visiting its out of the way places for close to fifty years now. We joke that we conceived the concept of "Blue Highways" and traveling them, years before William Least Heat Moon even completed his undergrad work, (reference Blue Highways, A Journey into America by said author). Our travels, over the years, would have been much enhanced, much simpler and certainly more informative and enjoyable had the Sheumaker's book been with us the entire time. I will state, at this time, that through our travels in this country (and several others), we have visited a great many of the places featured in this work. The authors have nailed each site perfectly! That being said....

What a wonderful travel book! For those seeking a vacation, adventure or just knowledge of our great country, this book is for you. You will find no Six Flags, Disney Worlds, or their ilk here. (Very fine places, I know, but not for everyone). The authors lead us to various out of the way places, and show us the roots from which we sprang. The sites featured in this book date from prehistory through about 1845. These are living historical sites, those developed by government agencies or private organizations to educate and display for us, just how it was in days long past. The book addresses 300 destinations, all historic, and each one enough to make a history and travel nut drool. The book breaks the country down into the Far West, Desert Southwest, Mountains and Prairies, Central and South, Northeast as well as the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Each section is further broken down into America's Native Peoples, European Colonization, Religious and Secular Groups and The Road to Independence.

The photographs in this work are rather stunning, not only in their clarity, but composition as well. They truly give you a feel for the place. Each photograph is accompanied by a wonderful explanation and further important details. The authors have provided very nice maps and given good written directions to each location. With each location we are provided with a mini-history lesson, and given a surprisingly accurate and in depth overview of the site, considering the space allowed. The text of the book is simple, easy to understand and, most importantly, informative and accurate! The authors have also provided phone numbers and web sites for each location. I love the way these two have inserted little nuggets of information (found in shaded boxes) throughout the text of the book. These little bits of information are a history lesson in themselves. It should also be noted that with a little research and a little effort on the traveler's part, literally hundreds of other locations can be found near the sites featured by the authors. No book can cover them all, but this one gives you a wonderful start!

Bottom line is that this is a very useful book, one that you certainly will want to pack along with you on your next trip, or even better, help plan your next journey. It is well done, interesting and just plane fun to browse through even if you never leave your front door. We carry two very large boxes of various field guides (birds, insects, plants, critters, history books, maps, etc.) on each of our trips. This work will go to the top of the boxes from now on. I do hope the authors plan and second book covering our history from the time this one leaves off to present. Highly recommend this work!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valued guidebook, July 8, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide) (Paperback)

"America's Living History: The Early Years" is the collaborative work of Suzanne and Craig Sheumaker who succeeded in compiling and writing a unique and history oriented travel guide showcasing three hundred historically significant destinations showcasing America's heritage from its beginning European contacts down through the mid-nineteenth century and the opening of the country to the west. "America's Living History" is much more than just a travel guide for the historically inclined, it also lays out a fascinating survey of the history of the founding and settling of an infant nation as illustrated by the histories of these recommended tourist sites and, taken as a whole, tell the remarkable story of our country's most formative years. Profusely illustrated with some five hundred color photographs, regional maps and tourist details, "America's Living History" offers a thoroughly 'reader friendly' text composed of brief and informative histories of the various places setting them into a proper context within the greater drama of nation building and development. "America's Living History" is a very highly recommended addition to school and community library American History reference collections, and a valued guidebook for parents wanting to instill a love of history and a respect for America's past in their children by taking them for on-site inspections of those places where events and personalities of the past have shaped and influenced the present.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars America's Living History, May 8, 2007

By 

Liz White "an eclectic reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: America's Living History - The Early Years (A Traveler's Guide) (Paperback)

This book is full of interesting information and really great photographs from cover to cover. It would make a terrific gift for someone newly retired, or for a Father of any age. It is a real find for an armchair traveler like myself!