Historian David McCullough passed away yesterday at age 89. He greatly enriched the scope and study of American history. I read all of his books, and enjoyed meeting him some years back. RIP.
I’m 59 and when my youngest son, who is now 22, was in High School, WW2 was taught in two paragraphs. That alone is troubling.Please God, this country MUST know it's history, or we will struggle to continue to be America.
I'd borrow them from my Dad, who loves good historical biographies, just to save $. Spent tons of money on books back in the day, still prefer a book in hand.I used to borrow his books from my grandparents‘ bookshelf.
Sadly, I fear that the horse is already out of the barn and isn't coming back.Please God, this country MUST know it's history, or we will struggle to continue to be America.
My daughter, aged 12, has not been taught anything regarding WW2, as of yet. I remedied that and began teaching her myself. To my surprise, she found it fascinating and is eager to learn more. I do not believe that we can depend on our educational system to properly teach American history.I’m 59 and when my youngest son, who is now 22, was in High School, WW2 was taught in two paragraphs. That alone is troubling.
reminds me of a cartoon I saw. One guy who looks frazzled says "those who don't remember history or doomed to repeat it, and those who remember history or doomed to watch other people repeat it". Of course that is what they call a paraphrase.Please God, this country MUST know it's history, or we will struggle to continue to be America.
Assuming later generations still read...I have almost a whole shelf of books by American authors, most of them are by David McCullough.
Such a great writer who really studied his subjects in depth before putting pen to paper. A great loss to the literary world but his works will be read by many generations not yet born.
Regards,
Jay.
My simple and incontrovertible theory behind all human conflict:Many people, very knowledgeable in history, strive to repeat many of the horrible past incidents without making the same mistakes. One can't change humans by simply writing histories. Many people strive for domination and try to improve on the methods used in the past. So, a good knowledge history can be a "double edged sword."
Despicable people can learn from previous incidents and strive to do better.
McCullough? Excellent at what he did, RIP. His tomes were always great reads.
Egg Shen, those were my two favourites, filled with fascinating details and in depth research. I have several others of his and the only one I've not yet read (but bought back in 2018) is John Adams.View attachment 161914
Yep a 2 inch thick book about a bridge that is somehow fascinating