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America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War (2006)

par William J. Bennett

Séries: America: The Last Best Hope (Volume 1)

Membres	Critiques	Popularité	Évaluation moyenne	Mentions
728	3	31,046	(4.11)	1
History. Nonfiction. HTML: America, how well do you know your history? Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses? Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor? Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House? What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back? Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal? Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue? Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose? Which "four-eyed" future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon? In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism. We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery. What others are saying: "William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us ... that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage.... [T]he importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.... Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed." -Brad Miner, American Compass "The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America." -Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life "For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story-fairly and fully-from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book." -Michael Barone, US News & World Report "Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth. -Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute .… (plus d'informations)

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4 sur 4

William Bennett provides narrative history of the United States with a positive and engaging voice. This series is beneficial to the study of United States and World History. Secondary and college students are the best audience for this text. Bennett's books were on the New York Best Sellers list in 2006.

PikeH | Jul 31, 2015 |

A very broad, but not very deep, history of the United States from 1492 to 1914. (

)

5hrdrive | Oct 4, 2010 |

Bennett's rather patriotic, rather cursory history of the United States isn't bad, it just isn't good either. It is written for a wide audience, and, although he doesn't shy away from the evil points of American history, he trumpets the good. This isn't a bad thing in my book, but it means that none of the "beautiful people" will give it any attention. He tells a few good stories, and the pictures are so thin that they wouldn't be missed if they weren't there. I read a chunk of this each night before I teach the next morning, just to re-familiarize myself with the material. One caveat, Bennett is an ardent Catholic and a Yankee, so these "faults" seep through. Bennett goes out of his way to slander modern-day Protestants by noting the past vagaries of Protestants, and he never fails to underscore the wonderful things we got from some random Papist here and there. He also goes out of his way to tow the old Yankee line that there really is no such thing as states rights, which is odd for a Republican such as himself. He even claims that Ronald Reagan was wrong, discussing the idea that the states created the Union, which I consider a fact, he states in a footnote: "On this point, even Ronald Reagan got it wrong. He told the crowds at his First Inaugural: 'All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.'" Of course, Bennett is wrong. First, it was the states under the Articles that created the Federal government under the Constitution. Second, the states, as sovereign colonies, declared independence. And third, these sovereign colonial governments existed for decades, in Virginia's case more than 150 years, before independence. Reagan was right, and Bennett is just plain wrong. (

)

tuckerresearch | Mar 4, 2009 |

A seamless overview of United States history from the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. This book is good for those who want to fill in gaps or get a broad picture of US history.

Without whitewashing the nation's past nor spraying it with graffiti, Bennett tells America's story as if he were sitting in the room talking to the reader, giving the reader a firm grasp of the past and thus, an understanding of the present. He elaborates on certain people such as Washington, Adams, Calhoun, and Lincoln which livens the story and propels it forward.

I found it to be a very enjoyable book. Though it filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of American history, because it is an overview, it did leave me with wanting to know more, which can be seen as both a positive and negative aspect of the book. I am looking forward to the second volume. (

)

taterzngravy | Nov 26, 2006 |

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America: The Last Best Hope (Volume 1)

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America: The Last Best Hope Volumes I & II Box Set par William J. Bennett

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New York Times bestseller (Non-fiction – 2006)

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ISBN 1595550879 is for America: The Last Best Hope Volume 2 From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom

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▾Descriptions de livres

History. Nonfiction. HTML:

America, how well do you know your history?

Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses? Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor? Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House? What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back? Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal? Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue? Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose? Which "four-eyed" future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon?

In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism.

We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery.

What others are saying:

"William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us ... that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage.... [T]he importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.... Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed."
-Brad Miner, American Compass

"The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America."
-Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

"For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story-fairly and fully-from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book."
-Michael Barone, US News & World Report

"Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth.
-Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute

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