Saturday, April 11, 2009
An Age of Extremes
by Joy Hakim
Ms. Hakim takes on 1880 through 1917 in this eighth volume of A History of US. It was the time of robber barons and labor unions, populists, inventors and immigrants. Ms. Hakim presents it with her usual mix of social and political history, giving special attention to those whose ideas weren't quite so popular at the time.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Ms. Hakim takes on 1880 through 1917 in this eighth volume of A History of US. It was the time of robber barons and labor unions, populists, inventors and immigrants. Ms. Hakim presents it with her usual mix of social and political history, giving special attention to those whose ideas weren't quite so popular at the time.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Friday, January 23, 2009
Reconstructing America
by Joy Hakim
Book seven of A History of US covers the late 19th Century, 1865 through 1890. Ms. Hakim looks at Reconstruction, the Westward Expansion and immigration with her usual attention to discrimination and civil rights. Like the other volumes of the series, its a nice mix of social and political history that's quite engaging to read.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Book seven of A History of US covers the late 19th Century, 1865 through 1890. Ms. Hakim looks at Reconstruction, the Westward Expansion and immigration with her usual attention to discrimination and civil rights. Like the other volumes of the series, its a nice mix of social and political history that's quite engaging to read.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Saturday, October 25, 2008
War, Terrible War
by Joy Hakim
This is an account of the American Civil War. It could also be called an Abraham Lincoln love-fest. If Ms. Hakim had anything negative to say about him, it was lost in all the accolades and pro-North sentiments. As an Illinois Yankee, I wasn't too bothered by that. But I did recall that there are other viewpoints out there and that Mr. Lincoln is hardly without fault. (Fortunately my daughter's curriculum makes the effort to present the opposing viewpoint. Sometimes to the point where I have to question their bias.) Overall, the book is as enjoyable and informative as the rest of the History of US series--an excellent introduction to American History.
Check it out, if you can stomach Yankee propaganda.
LibraryThing link
This is an account of the American Civil War. It could also be called an Abraham Lincoln love-fest. If Ms. Hakim had anything negative to say about him, it was lost in all the accolades and pro-North sentiments. As an Illinois Yankee, I wasn't too bothered by that. But I did recall that there are other viewpoints out there and that Mr. Lincoln is hardly without fault. (Fortunately my daughter's curriculum makes the effort to present the opposing viewpoint. Sometimes to the point where I have to question their bias.) Overall, the book is as enjoyable and informative as the rest of the History of US series--an excellent introduction to American History.
Check it out, if you can stomach Yankee propaganda.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Liberty for All?
by Joy Hakim
Book Five of A History of US is both the same old, same old and something different. Ms. Hakim actually backs up a bit and looks again at some of the years covered in Volume 4. But whereas in The New Nation she focused more on the political events of the era, in this volume she takes a more cultural path. Liberty for All? follows the mountain men, the forty-niners, the Mormons, the whalers, the suffragettes, the authors, poets and painters who all added to the tapestry of America. Of course, running throughout the book is the issue of slavery, which built up over the years. The book ends in 1860 with the fuse burning and the powder keg ready to explode.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Book Five of A History of US is both the same old, same old and something different. Ms. Hakim actually backs up a bit and looks again at some of the years covered in Volume 4. But whereas in The New Nation she focused more on the political events of the era, in this volume she takes a more cultural path. Liberty for All? follows the mountain men, the forty-niners, the Mormons, the whalers, the suffragettes, the authors, poets and painters who all added to the tapestry of America. Of course, running throughout the book is the issue of slavery, which built up over the years. The book ends in 1860 with the fuse burning and the powder keg ready to explode.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Friday, September 05, 2008
The New Nation
by Joy Hakim
Book 4 of A History of US (or, as they say in Britain, A History of THEM) looks at the United States from 1789 through 1850. Ms. Hakim covers the development of our government under the new constitution, looking at the contributions of our first seven presidents--and then skimming over the next seven. She speaks of the arrival of the Industrial Revolution on these shores and of the drive of our population to the west. She also gives a lot of coverage to the lives and events of America's native and black populations. Having read through this era of American history in the past few years, I kept getting the feeling that she was rushing through too fast. But in the end, I realized that she pretty much covered all the basics. She could have written a book that was ten times as long, but then that would defeat the purpose of covering the entire history of our country.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Book 4 of A History of US (or, as they say in Britain, A History of THEM) looks at the United States from 1789 through 1850. Ms. Hakim covers the development of our government under the new constitution, looking at the contributions of our first seven presidents--and then skimming over the next seven. She speaks of the arrival of the Industrial Revolution on these shores and of the drive of our population to the west. She also gives a lot of coverage to the lives and events of America's native and black populations. Having read through this era of American history in the past few years, I kept getting the feeling that she was rushing through too fast. But in the end, I realized that she pretty much covered all the basics. She could have written a book that was ten times as long, but then that would defeat the purpose of covering the entire history of our country.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Saturday, August 23, 2008
From Colonies to Country
by Joy Hakim
Volume three of A History of US covers the Revolutionary War and the subsequent establishment of the federal government. Ah, what can I say? It's interesting reading, as I've come to expect from the series. But it's also reminiscent of a fan magazine--or website, in this here 21st Century. Ms. Hakim seems to gush on and on about the founders and the documents they created. She doesn't ignore their faults, as that would counter her ongoing equal rights agenda, but she does her best to excuse them. Of course, the problem is that when I encounter such partisan propaganda, I tend to start pulling the other way. So by the end of the book, I was in no mood to cut Jefferson and the rest of those durn Virginians any slack. Even if they do write good rhetoric.
Aw, check it out anyway.
LibraryThing link
Volume three of A History of US covers the Revolutionary War and the subsequent establishment of the federal government. Ah, what can I say? It's interesting reading, as I've come to expect from the series. But it's also reminiscent of a fan magazine--or website, in this here 21st Century. Ms. Hakim seems to gush on and on about the founders and the documents they created. She doesn't ignore their faults, as that would counter her ongoing equal rights agenda, but she does her best to excuse them. Of course, the problem is that when I encounter such partisan propaganda, I tend to start pulling the other way. So by the end of the book, I was in no mood to cut Jefferson and the rest of those durn Virginians any slack. Even if they do write good rhetoric.
Aw, check it out anyway.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Making Thirteen Colonies
by Joy Hakim
Volume Two of A History of US covers the years 1600 through 1740. It's entertaining reading, with plenty of chiding for our forebears over their practice of slavery and religious intolerance.
'Tis wonderful waiting room material.
LibraryThing link
Volume Two of A History of US covers the years 1600 through 1740. It's entertaining reading, with plenty of chiding for our forebears over their practice of slavery and religious intolerance.
'Tis wonderful waiting room material.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, JoyHakim, WaitingRoomMaterial
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The First Americans
by Joy Hakim
This year my elder daughter's history textbook is an eleven volume series called A History of US. Like The Story of the World series, it adds some life and character to the dull old facts and figures of your old fashioned history texts. What's even better is that I get to read it along with the Sonlight curriculum, which offers its own rebuttals to various statements in the text. Not that one really needs the extra commentary. Ms. Hakim does a rather nice job of pointing out that there are two sides to every history. Take this volume, for example. As you might infer from the title, the book talks about the native American population that preceded and encountered Columbus and his followers. Now when I was growing up, Native Americans were pretty much just supporting characters in my history texts. Some twenty years later, the pendulum had swung the other way, and they were the sublime innocents who were invaded by the rapacious white fortune hunters. In The First Americans, Ms. Hakim briefly covers the American civilizations that the Europeans found, pointing out their glories and their warts. Likewise, Columbus and the boys are presented as brave, idealistic, cruel and greedy. In A History of US, nobody's perfect... but we are rather interesting.
'Tis nice to have on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
This year my elder daughter's history textbook is an eleven volume series called A History of US. Like The Story of the World series, it adds some life and character to the dull old facts and figures of your old fashioned history texts. What's even better is that I get to read it along with the Sonlight curriculum, which offers its own rebuttals to various statements in the text. Not that one really needs the extra commentary. Ms. Hakim does a rather nice job of pointing out that there are two sides to every history. Take this volume, for example. As you might infer from the title, the book talks about the native American population that preceded and encountered Columbus and his followers. Now when I was growing up, Native Americans were pretty much just supporting characters in my history texts. Some twenty years later, the pendulum had swung the other way, and they were the sublime innocents who were invaded by the rapacious white fortune hunters. In The First Americans, Ms. Hakim briefly covers the American civilizations that the Europeans found, pointing out their glories and their warts. Likewise, Columbus and the boys are presented as brave, idealistic, cruel and greedy. In A History of US, nobody's perfect... but we are rather interesting.
'Tis nice to have on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, JoyHakim, OnMyShelf
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