The Genuine Article by Edmund S. Morgan
This is NOT
a book for someone who does not like history, specifically American and more
specifically 18th and 19th century American history. That said this is not a book written for only
historians to enjoy. It is also not a
history book of its own.
What this book
is is a compendium of reviews by one of America’s finest 20th
century historians with many great books to his own credit. Edmund S. Morgan
critiques very clearly and with much peaceful candor books others have written
which have made a difference in his own understanding of our nation’s past.
Through his
reviews of these other historical authors he answers questions like, “Why did a
general who lost most of his battles and rarely took back a city claimed by his
adversaries end up being called ‘the Father of His Country’ “?
Or, very
interesting for a guy who used to preach most Sundays in a year, “How can we
learn more from the sermons given by great preachers through the course of
America’s history than from those preacher’s biographies.”?
I picked up
this book to read one of the reviews, and ended up reading them all. If you want a clearer take on what some of
the greatest of the very first Americans really thought and why they acted as
they did, read ‘The Genuine Article’ cover to cover. Because IT IS what it says it is.
Five *****
-Ken
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