Citrus County Social Studies: Book Review: America 1908

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Book Review: America 1908

I just finished reading America 1908: The Dawn of Flight, The Race To The pole, The Invention Of The Model T, And The Making Of A Modern Nation by Jim Rasenberger. If any of our Citrus County Social Studies teachers want to borrow the book, let me know and I’ll ship it to you in the county mail.

This is a book that focuses on a pivotal year in American history. 1908 was the year Roosevelt

sent the Great White Fleet on an around the world tour, providing a peaceful way to illustrate American interests in the Pacific regions. It is also the year that the Wright brothers heavier than air flying machine took on the early European flyers to establish American dominance in the air. It was also the year of the race to the North Pole – and a still continuing controversy as to whether Peary or Cook was the first to find the North Pole. Automobiles – a new toy and the rich man’s plaything – attracted national and world attention with a New York to Paris race; and found a promoter of the automobile for the common man with Henry Ford’s Model T and innovate assembly line production methods – all of which got their start in 1908. It was the year that set the stage through the automobile of

what America would look like a hundred years later.

There are many more story lines that run through the book, all vividly portrayed and described, with people becoming personalities, and events having meaning – not only on the world of 1908, but also the world of today.

The book was interesting – starting one event, moving to another, than coming back to the first event as it progressed through the year. It told of stories that were known – and many that were unknown to me – and provided a glimpse of not only the excitement and optimism that existed in 1908, but also its effect on our country and the world a hundred years later. It was a pivotal

year. I heartily recommend it as a reading that will tweak the readers interest in the people and events that became the foundation for many of America’s accomplishments in the twentieth century.

There are several professional reviews of the book available:

Now I guess I’ll have to go to ‘My Profile’ and change the ‘book I’m reading’ entry. My daughter just brought me Samuel Adams: A Life by Ira Stoll. I must be ready for this one – I read about a fourth of it Saturday!