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Days of Destiny: Crossroads in American History

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Days of Destiny: Crossroads in American History edited by James M. McPherson and Alan Brinkley is a book that brings thirty-one of todays best-selling and most respected historians together into a project that is engaging with unparalleled scholarship, as the question that is asked are there moments in American History when something old ends and something new begins. This book takes us from King Philip's 1675 parley with white colonial officials to the 1973 research conference at which the biotechnology revolution was announced.

This is a book that will court your mind with its information and insight, making a very fascinating read about the turbulent course of American History. As some of the historian chose wars, presidents, battles and politics, others chose areas, of less well-known areas of study making a well-rounded book with crisp prose and readability that will keep your interest.

The contents are as follows:

June 17, 1675 King Philip's Quarell by James Axtell
October 23, 1740 Whitefield Awakens America by John Demos
May 23, 1775 Silas Deane's Diary by Jack N. Rakove
October 19, 1781 the Battle of Yorktown by Robert Middlekauff
July 16, 1787 The Day the Constitution was Saved By Godon S. Wood
June 20, 1790 Mr. Jefferson's Dinner {arty by Joseph J. Ellis
March 4, 1801 The Second American Revolution by Joyce Appleby
Mid-February 1824 The Way West by William H. Goetzmann
January 1, 1831 The Liberator by Ira Berlin
July 20, 1848 The Seneca Falls Convention by Christine Stansell
March 6, 1857 The Day of Dred Scott by Sean Wilentz
September 13, 1862 The Lost Orders by James M. McPherson
June 13, 1866 Equality Before the Law by Eric Foner
October 5, 1877 I Will Fight No More Forever by Elliot West
February 24, 1908 Affirming the Sexual Division of Labor by Alice Kessler-Harris
August 14, 1908 The End of Accommodation by David Levering Lewis
January 1, 1913 The Routine Arrest That Launched Revoultion by Geoffrey C. Ward
June 20, 1917 The Great Demand by Nancy F. Cott
July 20, 1925 The Scopes Trial: Darrow v. Bryan by Alan Brinkley
May 22, 1933 Harry Hopkins Brings Relief by Linda Gordon
April 2, 1943 Testing America by Nicholas Lemann
July 25, 1945 the Most Terrible Bomb in History of the World by John W. Dower
September 19, 1946 The President Learns about Civil Rights by William E. Leuchtenberg
May 3, 1948 Holly at the Crossroads by Ann Douglas
January 17, 1961 A Farewell to Arms by Douglas Brinkley

June 21, 1961 The Decision to Publish Kuhn by David A. Ho;inger
July 28, 1965 End of an Era, Start of a War by David Kaiser
January 14, 1967 The Human Be-in by David Farber
July 12, 1967 Days of Rage: The Life and Death of Newark by Kenneth T. Jackson
November 22, 1971 Sally Reed Demand Equal Treatment by Linda K. Kerber
July 14, 1973 The Battle over Biotechnology by Daniel J. Kevles

As you can see this is a who's who line up of historians that chose a moment that changed history and you will not be disappointed reading the very well put together book, as it is a book of extraodinary acts and thoughts of exceptional people, and it is reflected by these scholars making a profound difference, not only in history but our daily lives.

This book is sponsored by the Society of American Historians and was written by members elected to the society because of their demonstrated capacity to write lucid, significant and very readable history. I found this book to provide stimulation and enjoyment, delivering an understanding of some of the central questions in American history. This is well worth your money to purchase and this volume is well appointed with illustrations further enriching your experience.

This heavy book is made up of 31 articles written by prominent historians, each of whom selected a day in American history that they believe were critical in forming the nation we live in today. For the most part, these aren't the typical events you would normally think of (signing of the Declaration of Independence, Pearl Harbor, ect.), but rather focus on the more obscure and overlooked events that nonetheless played important roles in our history. There is a very nice variety of topics discussed, including backroom meetings debating our form of government, presidential decisions on foreign policy, and even trouble in New Orleans that changed the face of Jazz music. If anything, there is an overly-heavy representation of articles focusing on the civil rights movements and Supreme Court decisions that influenced them.

One of the best aspects of this book is the incredible amount of illustrations and pictures throughout. Every article includes 10+ pictures helping to bring the stories to life. Important people, events, and scenes are displayed flawlessly, including full two-page pictures depicting most of the "days of destiny". My favorite article was written by the head editor, James McPherson, and chronicles the story of Jackson's famous "Lost Orders" that receives comparatively little attention in American History classes, but could be said to have changed the course of the Civil War.

The book is extremely well put together, with glossy pages and tight binding. While the layout is similar to a textbook, the articles themselves are very easy to read and entertaining. You'll be able to think of plenty of days that probably influenced America more than the ones included here, but this book isn't meant to detail the more well-known or the most important days. It focuses on the overlooked or forgotten days that these particular historians wished to focus more attention on. Extremely informative and entertaining. Well done to the editors, highly recommended.