Booknotes: Stories from American History: Leading Historians on the Events That Shaped Our Country [Hardcover]

Brian Lamb (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2001

From C-SPAN come the third in a series of the bestselling Booknotes books, this one recounting great events in American history as told by the authors who have appeared on the Booknotes program. . American history is replete with great and dramatic events, and in recent years a generation of great writers have brought these events to life. They have shared these stories with the viewers of the groundbreaking C-SPAN program, Booknotes, and here the best have been collected for readers to savor. Renowned writers and historians examine more than eighty unforgettable moments in American history, moments both celebrated and uncelebrated, from the Boston Tea Party to the Watergate break-in, from slavery to affirmative action, from Gettysburg to Iwo Jima. Included are Annette Gordon-Reed on the different ages' reactions to the Jefferson-Hemings controversy, James M. McPherson on the rush to enl ist to fight in the Civil War, Witold Rybczynski on the building of Central Park, Gina Kolata on the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918, Nicholas Lemann on the "great migration" of Southern blacks to Northern cities, Tom Brokaw on the World War II generation, Norman Podhoretz on the rise of neoconservatism, Leonard Garment on Watergate, Richard Holbrooke on the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, and much more. For Booknotes's famously devoted fans-and for anyone interested in American history-this is a wonderfully engaging compendium of information, opinion, and fascinating new perspectives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On C-SPAN's Booknotes, host Brian Lamb conducts in-depth, thoughtful (and sometimes plodding) author interviews. Transcripts of David McCullough, David Brooks, even David Crosby are free on the show's Web site, but polished essays based on the "excerpted and edited" interviews are gathered into a companion series, of which Booknotes: Stories from American History is the third installment. Divided into sections from "Revolution and Founding 1776-1815" to "The Culture Wars 1975-2000," the volume features Ben Bradlee on JFK and the Pentagon Papers, Gina Kolata on the 1918 flu pandemic and Witold Rybczynski on the making of Central Park.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This book covers different facets of U.S. history from the Boston Tea Party to Dan Rostenkowski's fall from power, with the greatest emphasis on 20th-century events. Historians and participants discuss the most important aspects and the telling details of the events that they have analyzed. Based on the interviews on the C-SPAN program Booknotes, these essays are not the scholarly pieces that make history seem dry and dusty. (Students will find no footnotes here.) Andrew Young describes Martin Luther King, Jr.'s decision to go to jail in Birmingham, AL, in support of the people who were already imprisoned because "there was nothing else to do." Jack Rakove describes the Virginia Plan that was used as the basis for the Constitution as something the Virginians and Pennsylvanians cooked up while they were "sitting around Philadelphia waiting for the other delegations to appear." Each entry is no more than 8 to 10 pages in length. The colorful details will make these events, both great and small, come to life for today's readers.
Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Prince William, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Public Affairs; 1 edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586480839
• ISBN-13: 978-1586480837
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #950,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding overview of American History, December 30, 2001

By 

historyone (Republic of Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Booknotes: Stories from American History: Leading Historians on the Events That Shaped Our Country (Hardcover)

I was watching the Don Imus Radio Program "Imus In the Morning" when he recommended to his listeners this book edited by Brian Lamb, the founder and current executive of C-SPAN. After hearing numerous recommendations from other viewers and notables on the Imus program, I decided to purchase the book myself and see if it was as good as others said it was. I was not disappointed in the least.

The book is in overview exerpts of interviews of notable historians and other personalities who have written a book about a historical figure or event and was on the C-SPAN show "Booknotes" to talk about the book they have written. Such authors as James McPherson, the excellent Civil War Historian to NBC News Anchorman Tom Brokaw who talked about the World War II generation. The book starts with the American Revolution and ends with the year 2000. Each chapter is a brief overview of what the historians/authors on C-SPAN said during the show that they appeared and it is interesting and to the point.

The chapters are short 5 to 8 pages at the most, but they keep the reader's interest throughout. There is an introduction at the beginning of each chapter that tells the date that the historian/author appeared on Booknotes and what the name of the book was that they have written.

Each chapter is interesting and dare I say "fun" to read. From the founding of America, to the Civil War, to current day is fascinating reading. Such notable figures as U.S. Grant, J.P. Morgan, John F. Kennedy and so many others are discussed as well. From historical acts to controversy, this book has them all. It provides a "taste" of the individual book that is presented by the authors and also some tell the motivation to why they wanted to write about an event or historical figure.

This is easy to read and does not get bogged down in detail. If you want detail, then buy the actual book that the various authors have written about.

This is the kind of book that would be excellent for a upper level high school U.S. History Class or for College U.S. History Classes as well to use as a companion to the required textbooks assigned for the classes. This is also the perfect book for the "armchair" historian who enjoys a good read about interesting people and events, but dosent want to know the minute details involved in a huge biography or book on a historical event.

Highly Recommended!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Matrix of Perspectives on American History, July 11, 2002

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Booknotes: Stories from American History: Leading Historians on the Events That Shaped Our Country (Hardcover)

What we have here are 79 condensations of one-hour interviews of eminent historians previously conducted by Lamb, founding CEO and host of the the C-SPAN "Booknotes" television series. ("My interview questions are omitted so that readers can focus on the author's words.") It is important to keep in mind that these are, literally, "stories from American history" rather than traditional academic briefs. That is to say, they are not dull and dry. On the contrary, their format, tone, and style are casual but at no time careless. Credit Lamb and his associates for a first-rate job of editing the material. Those interviewed are erudite raconteurs. Lamb organizes the essays within nine parts: Revolution and Founding (1776-1815), The Young Nation (1815-1850), Slavery and the Civil War (1850-1865), Rebuilding America and the Guided Age ((1865-1901), Progressive Era and Reaction (1901-1929), Depression and War (1929-1945), Early Cold War (1945-1957), Social Transformation (1957-1975), and The Culture Wars (1975-2000). I am especially grateful to Lamb for his headnotes for each chapter. Here is how he introduces Joyce Appleby and her comments on "The First Generation of Americans":

"The census of 1800 reported 1.1 million people living in the United States -- more than twice the number in the colonies at the beginning of the American Revolution. There were four cities with a population greater than 10,000 -- Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Half of the population was under sixteen years of age. On June 18, 2000, Joyce Appleby, a U.C.L.A. professor and author of Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans, published in 2000 by Belnap Press, appeared on Booknotes to tell us about this era and how this `first generation' helped shape the young nation."

Headnotes such as these serve as appropriate introductions, of course, but also suggest additional sources which readers may wish to explore. It is also helpful to have the "Complete List of C-SPAN Booknotes (1989-2001)," then totaling 619. This is one of three books published thus far, based on 79 of those interviews. The other two, also edited by Lamb, are Booknotes: Life Stories, Notable Biographers on the People Who Shaped America and Booknotes: America's Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas. If you have an especially strong appetite for American history, Lamb and his associates offer a "feast."

Bon Appetit!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sorry You Slept Through History Class?, December 15, 2001

By 

Craig L. Howe "The Pointed Pundit" (Darien, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Booknotes: Stories from American History: Leading Historians on the Events That Shaped Our Country (Hardcover)

Finally, the perfect gift for people who wished they paid more attention in high school history class.

Brian Lamb, the host of the long running C-SPAN author interview program, Booknotes, has edited interviews with more than 80 historians, writers, journalists and politicians on the great and small events that have shaped American history. Lamb's original interview questions have been omitted, allowing the author to conversationally describe each event with the passion that is generated only a person who loves his or her work.

Among my favorite tales recounted is Robert Frost's reading of "The Gift Outright" at the Presidential Inauguration of John F. Kennedy as told by Jay Parini. President Kennedy, the Middlebury College professor tells us, initially resisted Stewart Udell's attempts to include 86 year old poet fearing he would steal the show. Events would prove him right.

Another favorite is James M. Perry, the long-time political reporter for The Wall Street Journal, discussing Civil War Correspondents. The demand for timely and accurate dispatches from the front lines transformed American Journalism and provided the antecedents for today's personality-driven electronic Journalism.

So if you are sorry you slept through American history class, or if you loved it as much as I did, here is a book for you - an engaging compendium that will provide hours of interesting readings.