Barnett, Alex, ed. Words that changed America; great speeches that inspired, challenged, healed and enlightened.BARNETT, Alex, ed. Words that changed America; great speeches that inspired, challenged, healed and enlightened. Globe Pequot, The Lyons Press. 320p. bibliog. index. c2003. 1-59228-795-6. $13.95. JSA This is a useful collection of 100 speeches that provide a chronological/topical history of America and highlight some controversial issues in that history. Each speech gets a short, useful introductory paragraph and the square shape of the book somehow knits the pages together, so psychologically the pages of pure print don't intimidate. Barnett organizes the speeches into four topics--Consent of the Governed, A More Perfect Union, Freedom of Speech, and America and the World--and then chronologically within topics. Freedom of Speech, for example, starts with Ben Franklin and Elijah Lovejoy, moves to Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger, and finishes with Joseph McCarthy and Margaret Chase Smith. Sections also include some key documents. Freedom of Speech, for instance, has the 1798 Sedition sedition n. the Federal crime of advocacy of insurrection against the government or support for an enemy of the nation during time of war, by speeches, publications and organization. Sedition usually involves actually conspiring to disrupt the legal operation of the government and beyond expression of an opinion or protesting government policy. Sedition is a lesser crime than "treason," which requires actual betrayal of the government or "espionage. Acts and an excerpt from the Pentagon Papers Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered the period from World War II to May, 1968. It was written by a team of analysts who had access to classified documents, and was completed in Jan., 1969. The study revealed a considerable degree of miscalculation, bureaucratic arrogance, and deception on the part of U.S. policymakers.. A fine collection, useful for students to use on their own or for teachers in class. It wasn't clear to me, however, whether speeches were complete or edited. Also, the text on the back cover mentions a section that isn't here, featuring some interesting, less political topics (e.g., Lou Gehrig's farewell speech and Mark Twain on the weather). Were those in an earlier edition and omitted here? Daniel Levinson, Teacher, Thayer Acad., Braintree, MA J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion