The McGuffey Readers: Selections from the 1879 Edition (McGuffey's Readers) - Softcover

Gorn, Elliott J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312133987 ISBN 13: 9780312133986

Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1998

Synopsis

The most influential books in the history of American education, The McGuffey Readers not only taught reading skills and classic literature but also imparted idealized middle class virtues to millions of schoolchildren. This anthology organizes more than eighty selections from all six volumes of the 1879 edition into twelve thematic chapters, making it possible for readers to examine the cultural assumptions that permeated middle America in the nineteenth century. A general introduction places the books in their historical context and provides background information on the life and career of their compiler, William Holmes McGuffey. Helpful editorial features include chapter introductions, a chronology, questions for consideration, a bibliography, illustrations from the 1879 edition, and an index.

About this title

About the Author:

Elliot J. Gorn is professor of history and American studies at Miami University (Ohio). He is author of Mother Jones: An American Life (2000); coauthor, with Warren Goldstein, of A Brief History of American Sports (1993); coeditor, with Peter Williams and Mary Cayton, of The Encyclopedia of American Social History (1993); and coeditor, with Randy Roberts and Terry D. Bilharts, of Constructing the American Past: A Source Book of a People's History, Second Edition (1995), a reader for the American history survey course.

Review:

"This book's engaging combination of current scholarship and popular culture documents is exemplary. The primary selections are extremely accessible, and the design of the book--a compact volume, short selections, visuals, low cost, thematic unity, lively and controversial primary material open to interpretation and critical thinking--shows an acute understanding of the kind of materials needed in the college classroom."

About this edition

• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312133987
• ISBN 13: 9780312133986
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 202