American Connections: The Founding Fathers. Networked. (Paperback)

by James Burke (Author)
Key Phrases: congress assembled, only signer, United States, New York, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In his latest, columnist and author Burke (Twin Tracks) looks at the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence through his history-as-networking perspective, "an approach I've been using for thirty years... that's recently become known as 'six degrees of separation.' " Spraying historical tidbits like buckshot, Burke looks for the hidden links behind (seemingly) everything; in chapter three, for example, Burke begins with unremarkable signatory William Whipple, considers his part in the Battle of Saratoga, pursues the defeated British general "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne back to his playwriting debut, penned in celebration of the earl of Derby's marriage, for whom a new annual horse race would be named in 1780; from there, Burke is indeed off to the races: the next four pages cover, among other topics, the first strip cartoon, Napoleon's favorite surgeon, the Order of Saint Margaret, the invention of the Geiger counter and the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association which, in 2002, named as its president a man named, yes, William Whipple. The effect is less like connecting the dots than surfing the Web at breakneck speed: an impressively dizzying reading experience with little depth. Readers looking for analysis, or even a sustained narrative, will be disappointed in these overstuffed micro-lessons, but they're perfect for trivia buffs (or those who just wish books were more like the internet).
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From Booklist
The latest in Burke's Connections brand (Twin Tracks, 2003) links every signer of the Declaration of Independence with a contemporary namesake. Burke's irreverent, caffeinated prose is again on display as he reduces the pledgers of "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" into pithy summaries of their crasser concerns, such as smuggling. Then off Burke goes in pursuit of their modern counterparts. Perhaps Google easily yielded commoner names such as Roger Sherman, who as of 1996 was a church organist, but where does one find a modern Button Gwinnett, especially since the original, killed in a 1777 duel, left Burke scant leads to trace? Leave it to Burke's encyclopedic mind to meet that challenge, and suffice it to say that entertainer Danny Kaye ties up Burke's Gwinnett problem. Loosely chronological, Burke's matchmaking strings together names from 230 years of literary, scientific, and political history, continually springing the unexpected on the reader, sometimes at the cost of a groan but never at the expense of entertainment. Taylor, Gilbert

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743282264
• ISBN-13: 978-0743282260
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,264 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Burke's Drivel, September 28, 2007

By	R. S. Jacobson "Midlife" (Florida Panhandle) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read nearly all of James Burke's work, and his Connections started my fascination with History of all kinds; nowadays, that's all I read. I also became a research historian and have co-authored a book; for that, I offer my unending thanks to Mr. Burke. Unfortunately, this book is nothing more than a collection of parlor tricks, one that wears thin after 2 or 3 chapters. There's no history here nor story telling nor insights; only a compendium of extremely poorly documented linkages connecting the signers of the Declaration of Independence to a current person of the same name. Within each chapter is a set of linkages or connections that typically number above 20, not the six degrees of networking that Burke alludes to. With that many degrees of networking, I could even play this game. All this book does is showcase Burke's knowledge of fairly inconsequential people over the past 200+ years and does nothing to stimulate interest in the reader. This is one book I couldn't bear to read or finish. Mr. Burke should be ashamed to have written it; it simply is not up to his previous standards. There is nothing here...nothing at all; how unfortunate.

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless exercise in connect-the-dots, July 30, 2007

By	R. B. Bernstein "R. B. Bernstein, Adjunct Pro... (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read several of James Burke's earlier works, and I had hoped that his venture into my own field would illuminate a subject in ways that would not have occurred to conventional historians. Unfortunately, this book is nothing of the kind. On first glance, It is organized in a structure giving one chapter to each Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Mr. Burke seems not to have thought of the framers of the Constitution as belonging in his phrase "founding fathers.") However, each Signer lasts barely one paragraph with Mr. Burke connecting him to someone else, and then to someone else, and then to someone else, and then on and on he goes forming a daisy-chain of references, skittering across the surface of history like a spider sliding across a sheet of ice, until he gets to someone in modern times who shares the same name as that of the Signer [or, in the case of Benjamin Franklin, to a reference back to the original Signer]. The book is slipshod, superficial, and all too often fraught with ominous undocumented claims often introduced or accompanied by such phrases as "Some say" or "according to some." I am sorry that I bought this book; it makes the otherwise-useless book by Richard Brookhiser, WHAT WOULD THE FOUNDERS DO? OUR QUESTIONS, THEIR ANSWERS, read like a marvel of scholarly comprehension.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Burke Does It Again, September 13, 2007

By	Edith Nelson "Gillianren" (Olympia, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

James Burke, well known for pursuing the stranger paths of history, has done just that once more. This time, he follows the signers of the Declaration of Independence, following paths leading away from each one to something within the last fifty years sharing that name. If what you want is a straight history book, try a different author. This is Burke's area of expertise, and he has done a wonderful job. Again.