Author Bill O’Neill has authored many books on Trivia and stands as somewhat of an expert in this field! His topics include movies, football, baseball, wars, rock music and simply random trivia facts. This volume is American trivia (a subset that grows broader my the hour these days!) To set the mood of the book Bill states, ‘The United States of America has a long and complex history—sometimes dark and sometimes colorful—full of tall tales, half-truths, and hard facts you’ll find harder to believe than the myths. The history we learn as young children is the stuff of flowery fantasy in some cases, and it gets more honest and less interesting the older we get until we finish school. But we never get to the meat of it until we enter the real world and learn life isn’t and never was that easy or perfect. No one really knows for sure when the landmass now known as the United States of America first became inhabited by people, but like most of the rest of the world, it’s not where humans originated, so all we can do is guess who they were and how long ago they came. Most well-educated guesses say the land became peopled when hunter-gatherers crossed Beringia from modern Russia into what we now know as Alaska, moving gradually south, likely in search of warmer climates. The populations we refer to as Native Americans, or indigenous peoples, may be their descendants, but in any case, they are the people who have longest resided on this land in modern history. They were the sole human residents of the landmass until Europeans arrived in the fifteenth century, and mostly from there is where the story begins, at least for this book. How the United States went from being unoccupied by humans to being one of the most populated countries in the world and the world’s greatest superpower is a long, meandering, cacophonous story that might be better addressed in a complete set of encyclopedias rather than two-hundred-word vignettes that can only serve to peek behind the curtain. This book of American trivia is meant to give a broad overview of the biggest events—admittedly with a few more trivial but very interesting tidbits along the way—in a way that delivers truth without getting into debate about bias. History can get dry, so humor is a great alleviator, but quite frankly, not all of it is very funny. Some of it is hard to hear, and some of it sparks debate, sometimes because of one’s interpretation and sometimes because the version we learned hasn’t been unlearned, and the new, not as pleasant information might come as a surprise.’
The book is divided into fascinating sections – Native American history, 1492 -1783 Colonial History through the American Revolution, 1783 – 1918 American Independence to World War I, 1918 – 1964 World War Ito Civil Rights, 1964 – NOW Civil Rights to “Oh My God, What Have We Done?”, More Pivotal Moments in United States History, American Culture, and American Geography. Bill closes his book with a particularly interesting section he calls ‘Interesting Facts – such as ‘2. The most crooked street in the world is Wall Street. — DRUMROLL! — Just kidding, it's actually the aptly named Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa, and if you get carsick, you probably shouldn't go.’
Not only is the book entertaining – it is also very instructive for every reader. Have fun, learn, and be ready for the next gathering of very smart friends! You’ll be on top. Grady Harp, December 17
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‘This book won’t change the world, and it isn’t intended to, so hopefully any debates don’t get too out of hand’
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