Customer Reviews

Founding Mothers: Women of America in the Revolutionary Era

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I usually have to push myself to read anything other than fiction or memoir, so I was surprised to find myself so happily immersed in this book. The author's style is entertaining and easy to read. She covers a lot of ground here--from women's everyday chores and family life, to women who participated in the revolutionary conflict by supporting either the American revolutionaries or the British. She provides many interesting facts and details from different women's lives, including rich and poor women; black, white, and Native American women. The author's descriptions of the hard work and long days of the women of this period make me think twice when I hear people say how "time-starved" women are today. Great food for thought! I highly recommend it.

This book instills the reality that when women are strong, courageous and great leaders, they are not acting like men, they are acting like.... women! Did you know that a woman did just what Paul Revere did? Also, it points out the enormous contribution of running households, farms and schools, and manufacturing textiles, food supplies, etc. to the creation of our country. I had my teenage daughter read it over the summer and she enjoyed it. Recommended for boys or girls.

I found this book not only historically and culturally interesting, but it was also very easy and entertaining to read. It covered a broad spectrum of women and was full of fascinating little bits of information. I also noticed the lack of documentation, which might affect the integrity of the book for some readers. As a Revolutionary War reenactor, I enjoyed this book very much.

I was very disapointed in this book. It goes from one topic to another with no footnotes or primary sources as to where this information comes from. It lists every stereotype of women and family life you could imagine. There is a list of "Suggestions for Further Reading" but no bibliography of any sort to back up what has been written as "fact".

There are no pictures or photographs of anything except those small illustrations for chapter heading.

As a research book it is very poor and expects the reader to take on face value the authors assertation with no backup.