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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
To say McCullough is a national treasure would be an understatement. As the preeminent voice on many of American history’s greatest legends, in my opinion, reading his speeches that pull wisdom from our past exemplifies exactly what a writer should be able to do. Like many of the speeches and texts he pulls from, McCullough writes in a memorable and at times “call-to-action” manner. A lovely, quick read based in the tenacity of the American spirit.
[Audiobook]
Not what I expected, but a good compilation nonetheless. McCullough’s narration was impeccable, and I was more intrigued by his commentary than the speeches and pieces he chose for reflection. Political history nerds will appreciate it. Maybe not love it entirely, but appreciate it.
Not what I expected, but a good compilation nonetheless. McCullough’s narration was impeccable, and I was more intrigued by his commentary than the speeches and pieces he chose for reflection. Political history nerds will appreciate it. Maybe not love it entirely, but appreciate it.
4.5 stars. McCullough is an amazing historian, storyteller, and curator of American life.
I think this was a fantastic book! Sooo many good points and great facts about America. Anyone can and should read this! He talks so much about Abigail Adams in this... I wonder if he is thinking of doing a biography on her. What an amazing and wise woman.
When current events get hard to reconcile, I turn to reading history. I have read a lot of history books lately! David McCullough's latest book is a compilation of commencement addresses and speeches he has written in the last 30+ years. They are meant to inspire and they do...their themes hold up no matter what decade we are in. They put things in perspective by looking at difficult times in America's past and the men and women who faced those challenges with creativity, wisdom, integrity and honor. They made hard decisions for the good of the country despite popular opinion and immense personal sacrifice. I feel a little better already...
This collection of speeches made over the last 30 years, and read by the author, made me want to read more history and go more historical places.
Since the election of Donald Trump last year, I’ve read a few books and articles that have encouraged resistance to his administration’s policies. They’re fighting books. However, in times like these we need hope and idealism just as much as we to fight. This book, a collection of speeches the famous historian has given since 1989, is a book of hope and idealism.
Starting with a speech he gave to Congress in 1989 and ending with a speech he gave in 2016, Mr. McCullough reminds readers of the importance of studying our history, reading widely, and living fully not just for our own sakes, but for the sake of our country as well. Using historical characters and tales as examples, Mr. McCullough reminds us of the shared experiences we have had as Americans. It is wonderful reminder that our country was not built in a day and that those that preceded us, especially the Founding Fathers, were no wiser than we are today.
This is book is a call to our highest ideals and to not just live up to our history, but to make our own history.
Starting with a speech he gave to Congress in 1989 and ending with a speech he gave in 2016, Mr. McCullough reminds readers of the importance of studying our history, reading widely, and living fully not just for our own sakes, but for the sake of our country as well. Using historical characters and tales as examples, Mr. McCullough reminds us of the shared experiences we have had as Americans. It is wonderful reminder that our country was not built in a day and that those that preceded us, especially the Founding Fathers, were no wiser than we are today.
This is book is a call to our highest ideals and to not just live up to our history, but to make our own history.
David McCullough is an amazing writer and historian; you can feel his love and enthusiasm for the topic at hand permeate the pages of his books. This is a collection of his speeches, given at iconic and historically significant places around the US and on topics of what makes America truly great. Over and over again, he points out that the only way "America", the idea and America, the country can ever be, is through cooperation, through unity of spirit (not necessarily opinion) and through action. An inspiring book.
a note on this review: this was a book that i read on assignment from school, so it was certainly not something i would pick up or probably even enjoy on my own. it will inevitably color my opinion of the book, but i tried to be objective as possible/ didn't prevent myself from loving it or hating it.
i liked the experience of reading it a lot more than i initially anticipated, which was a nice surprise. i discovered through reading this book (along with another book i read for english prior to this) that i honestly love annotating my books. there's just something i love about putting pen to paper, underlining important quotes and writing my thoughts about them in the margins that i found fantastically engaging.
as for the actual books, as in all collections i liked some of the speeches more than others, but some of the better ones (in my opinion!) were...
-"The Spirit of Jefferson," a speech given at a naturalization ceremony in 1994
-"The First to Reside Here," a speech given at the 200th anniversary of the white house in 2000
-"Knowing Who We Are," a speech given at Hillsdale college in 2005
- "The Summons to Serve," a speech given in Dallas, Texas on November 23, 2013
keep in mind that these opinions are heavily colored by the fact that i certainly liked the speeches that helped me with the essay i was supposed to write more. the lesson about americans learning their own history is important for sure, but because i wasn't planning on using that facet of the book in my essay, i wasn't thinking about it as much.
rather unexpectedly, i loved the excerpts or even just one line quotes from people in american history. i though that i would have the urge to skip over them, especially the longer ones such as excerpts from letters written between john adams and his wife abigail, but these were actually some of my favorite parts and gave me a lot of insight into not only the basic facts of history such as important events and dates, but the real ethos and feeling of the time, and how it translates to the world today. (which is a large part of why i love historical fiction so much!)
i often found myself pushing back against the notions mcullough presented, or rather, maybe not necessarily his idea of what the so-called "american spirit" is, but how he chose to present it, which i loved making notes about in the margins, the real reason i actually liked reading this book. i found that the way in which he conveyed his ideas were often through the lense of white male history, and ignored other minority narratives that have persisted since the founding of our nation and before.
i'm interested to see how the narrative presented by between the world and me, the book i have to read to complete this assignment, will both challenge and agree with the one that david mcullough has created here.
i liked the experience of reading it a lot more than i initially anticipated, which was a nice surprise. i discovered through reading this book (along with another book i read for english prior to this) that i honestly love annotating my books. there's just something i love about putting pen to paper, underlining important quotes and writing my thoughts about them in the margins that i found fantastically engaging.
as for the actual books, as in all collections i liked some of the speeches more than others, but some of the better ones (in my opinion!) were...
-"The Spirit of Jefferson," a speech given at a naturalization ceremony in 1994
-"The First to Reside Here," a speech given at the 200th anniversary of the white house in 2000
-"Knowing Who We Are," a speech given at Hillsdale college in 2005
- "The Summons to Serve," a speech given in Dallas, Texas on November 23, 2013
keep in mind that these opinions are heavily colored by the fact that i certainly liked the speeches that helped me with the essay i was supposed to write more. the lesson about americans learning their own history is important for sure, but because i wasn't planning on using that facet of the book in my essay, i wasn't thinking about it as much.
rather unexpectedly, i loved the excerpts or even just one line quotes from people in american history. i though that i would have the urge to skip over them, especially the longer ones such as excerpts from letters written between john adams and his wife abigail, but these were actually some of my favorite parts and gave me a lot of insight into not only the basic facts of history such as important events and dates, but the real ethos and feeling of the time, and how it translates to the world today. (which is a large part of why i love historical fiction so much!)
i often found myself pushing back against the notions mcullough presented, or rather, maybe not necessarily his idea of what the so-called "american spirit" is, but how he chose to present it, which i loved making notes about in the margins, the real reason i actually liked reading this book. i found that the way in which he conveyed his ideas were often through the lense of white male history, and ignored other minority narratives that have persisted since the founding of our nation and before.
i'm interested to see how the narrative presented by between the world and me, the book i have to read to complete this assignment, will both challenge and agree with the one that david mcullough has created here.
Somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars - I enjoyed this book, a short collection of speeches given over the course of his life that take a macro look at 'the American experiment' as we love to call it. Much was underlined and much will be remembered, but the romantic / warm fuzzy / big picture view through which much of this history is discussed did not ultimately reassure me about the severity of the challenges the US faces, even if we've faced down existential crises before and emerged stronger as this book makes clear.