These are all great books for anyone who loves history, and particularly American history and the story of the 20th century.
Both Nigel Hamilton, author of the “FDR at War” trilogy, and Rick Atkinson, author of the “Liberation” trilogy, are exceptional historians and writers. There are no gifts that will please the readers in your family more than these book sets. Fantastic is an understatement when it comes to both of them.
Atkinson’s latest work is the first volume of a trilogy about the most momentous revolution in world history, the American Revolution. The book is titled “The British Are Coming,” and tells the story of America’s first 20 months in armed rebellion against the British Empire. It is an extraordinary work, and absolutely essential towards understanding the character of the nation that would become synonymous with the 20th century, long named the “American century.”
There are epochs of history that begin and end. It must have seemed imponderable that the British Empire could have lost America, and then it did. What happens next is unknown for us all.
I wrote this essay in January of this year, and I wanted to share it again at the beginning of this holiday season:
What will 2024 bring us? Does it not feel like we are on the edge of discovering a new era beyond what we have known. The skies seem to be darkening again. The winds of catastrophe seem to be stirring. Yet, we wait. We wait to know what is next, what is coming. Soon, we will know.
I subscribe to several Substack newsletters offered by people who tell the truth, call out the misdeeds of those in power, inform us on the history of our country and its place in the world and encourage all of us to be engaged, all in a similar way..At the ballot box..They put in an inordinate amount of effort to inform, educate and inspire all of us to keep our critical thinking skills sharp and pointed in the right direction..
These four are the tip of the spear for me..
The Warning
America America
Letters From An American
Civil Discourse
There are more but these are the key sources that help shape my point of view..
As I responded to an offering by The Warning just the other day, I found myself considering a parallel path that I believe is inevitable..Here is that comment..
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“The question isn’t whether there is goodness all around us. There is.
The question is whether the American people will muster the strength to defend it. The hour is growing late”
~Steve Schmidt
When facing evil such that has manifested itself within our country, does there not come a time in the defense of the goodness it threatens, that an abhorrent action must be entered into to cripple and crush that evil? Is there not a time when we must allow our actions to speak louder than our words?
~Sam Urdank
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The communities generated by these four authors trying to get the country to wake up and see what is happening I can’t begin to guess its number..
But what I do know is that there are too many times when I feel it is a choir preaching exercise..
Words matter, truth matters, however, as I have been told over and over again by various sources throughout my past and recent life, It is our actions that drive the events that shape us..“Actions speak louder than words” or “Watch what they do, not what they say..”
An act of war was perpetrated on our Capitol on January 6th 2021..we have yet to respond with the necessary actions to crush it’s perpetrators..I can not understand why that is..
Perhaps the American Revolution was “the most momentous revolution in world history“, but likely not from a Black American’s perspective.
The American Revolution brought freedom to white Americans, but certainly not to Black Americans.
Indeed, the Constitution that followed --- written by Founding Fathers who were largely slave owners --- only further entrenched American slavery by declaring that slaves were only 3/5ths of a person.
In fact, slaves were not seen or treated as human beings at all, but only as chattel to be owned, bought and sold.
For a book that does bring compelling attention to the perspectives of slaves and Black Americans, I recommend Honoree Jeffers’ wonderful novel, “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois”.