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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
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.
I didn't realize what "The American Spirit" was about really when I picked it up but David McCullough is one of my very favorite historians and he is definitely on my automatic read list. This book is filled with speeches that the author has given everywhere from in front of Congress to commencement speeches in front of college students. This book is filled with inspiration and stories of parts of American history that it was good to be reminded of as well as stories that I was unfamiliar with.
This book is good for both those are familiar with McCullough's work and those that are not. Those that are familiar with McCullough will appreciate his special brand of storytelling that his fans are familiar with. His ability to link stories together into lessons for today and the future is fantastic. Those not familiar with all of these things are in for a treat as they experience him for the first time.
The speeches in this book are really good and touch a lot of different subjects. This book is good balm for these recent times when things seem so off kilter, strange, and strained in our country. I enjoyed this book!
This book is good for both those are familiar with McCullough's work and those that are not. Those that are familiar with McCullough will appreciate his special brand of storytelling that his fans are familiar with. His ability to link stories together into lessons for today and the future is fantastic. Those not familiar with all of these things are in for a treat as they experience him for the first time.
The speeches in this book are really good and touch a lot of different subjects. This book is good balm for these recent times when things seem so off kilter, strange, and strained in our country. I enjoyed this book!
Fine collection of speeches that generally revolve around American history and education.
Some of the speeches were better than others but his belief in reading, learning history, and being an active and engaged citizen were wonderful to behold.
As one of my fellow reviewers said, this is a perfect appetizer or dessert for new or experienced readers of McCullough. I fully agree with them.