Sunday, June 7, 2009

Cloudy With a Chance of The American Patriot's Almanac


365 reasons to love America!

The fife and drum of history mark the time of each passing day. And within their cadence, personalities, conflicts, discoveries, ideas, and nations peal and fade. American history is no different. From the starving time of Jamestown during the Winter of 1609, through the bloody argument of the Civil War, and to today, the United States is a tale best told one day at a time.
Best-selling author and educator Dr. William J. Bennett is a master of the story that is the United States. And in The American Patriot's Almanac, Bennett distills the American drama into three hundred sixty-five entries-one for each day of the year. Fascinating in its detail and singular in its grasp of the big themes, Bennett's Almanac will make anyone a fan of history, assembling even some of the most obscure details. Even better, it will make of everyone a patriot.
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My review:

When I saw this book, I was very excited to get the opportunity to learn more about the history of my country. I thought this would be a great way to learn about the heroic and courageous things that people have done so that I can live in the U.S.

This book definitely helped bolster my patriotism. Because I read all 365 entries in a period of several months, it tended to drag at times, just because it was so much reading. But for something short to read once a day, this is wonderful. I really can't say just how much I enjoyed reading this book. As well as short blurbs on different people, places, etc., at the end of each month, there are "essays", I suppose you could say, that tell about different things - reasons to love our country, the history of our flags, fifty all-American movies, etc.

The only thing that bothered me were the few instances of profanity. I've never been one to want to read profanity in a book. However, people in history were just as flawed as we are today, and I understand the reasons the authors kept the quotes completely intact.

Overall, I suggest this book. It's great to get to read a little about our country's past every day.


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