Hidden History : Exploring Our Secret Past

Boorstin, Daniel J.; Boorstin, Ruth Frankel

ISBN 10: 0060390719 / ISBN 13: 9780060390716

Published by Harpercollins, 1987

Fast & Free Shipping â Good condition. It may show normal signs of use, such as light writing, highlighting, or library markings, but all pages are intact and the book is fully readable. A solid, complete copy that's ready to enjoy. Seller Inventory # ZWV.0060390719.G

Synopsis:

In thirty interrelated essays, eminent Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explores the hidden history of America and the secret pitfalls and virtues of American democracy

Reviews: In his 70s, Boorstin recently retired as Librarian of Congress, a position that he had held since 1975 that capped his career as one of America's eminent historians. In this collection of essays the author of The Discovers and the trilogy The Americans writes with the breadth and vitality that mark all his books. His title has deliberate meaning: Boorstin implies the historian's need to probe socio-political patterns from philosophical and uncliched angles. Here he recaptures his "historical adventures," ranging from a study of the historian's discipline (his insight into Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire as an "intimate" work is rich and subtle) through a look at America as a "By-Product Nation" not greatly driven by theories, but rather formed by action under stress (he sees FDR's four-term presidency as an example). And finally, a series of segments from his writingspresent his views of America's "unsung" political experiments. Boorstin's closing emphasis on our unacknowledged dominance by the "kingdom of the Machine" leads readers to hope for his further expansion of this theme.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Hidden History : Exploring Our Secret Past
Publisher: Harpercollins
Publication Date: 1987
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: good