America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the...

America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the Making of a ... | Jim Rasenberger | fascinating!

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America, 1908: The...

	America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the Making of a ... Jim Rasenberger Scribner, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

history at its best

As someone who knows a lot about this period in history-- early 20th century America-- I was blown away by this book. Rasenberger manages to blend together a number of critical threads from the era-- the incredible inventiveness of Americans, the great sense of possibility-- and makes it a completely edge-of-your-seat tale. His research is impeccable. The book covers a great deal of territory, from the Wright Brothers to the twisted triangle of Harry Thaw, Evelynn Nesbit & Standford White-- but always feels like its on rails. A great, fun read.

fascinating!

This book is beautifully written and, for someone interested in history but not a specialist, provided a perfect introduction into a fascinating year. I highly recommend it!

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The Year America Flexed Its Wings, And Other Things As Well

Any society's annual review is a carefully edited culmination of what preceded it, as well as the start of another future that is always moving, but America in 1908 was not altogether an arbitrary choice. The book's twelve chapters, organized into three parts, covers a number of events that changed America, and the world, in decidedly distinct ways. The most obvious would be the Wright brothers' public demonstrations of air power, and the start of Ford's Model T production. More subtle would be the Great White Fleet's voyage around the world, and some of the tensions present then are still with us today, even if muted. Easy reading, a great snapshot in time. The author included an excellent bibliography for both wider and deeper follow-through reading, and a first rate index.

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A Bit of a Stretch

This is a very readable history about a significant time in our history. However, 1908 was not the year the author would make it out to be. He squeezed and finessed to make 1908 a big year. Some of the subjects highlighted did occur in that year, others not so much and others were really not that significant.

First, the insignificant, those that are not that special to 1908. Yes, there was a great pennant race in the National League - there have been lots of them. Although 1908's was fluky, there have been many races that have come down to the last day. So also, TR was a popular president who did not run for re-election. That has also happened in other years. Scores of pages were devoted to both.

Then there are the things for which 1908 was just a step. Back to TR. There are pages about the last days in the White House for TR and his family and how depressing the last days of 1908 were for the family as they planned to leave. I think the author thought inauguration was in January. It was not back then. Taft was not inaugurated until March. The author also made a big deal about Peary going to the North Pole - he left in '08 but didn't claim to make it until the next year (his claim was later debunked but that is not in the book). Ford developed the Model T, but it didn't really take off in sales until mass production started in 1910 - a far more significant development than the car itself. Lastly, the Wright brothers first flew in 1905, although they made flight truly viable in 1908.

A last criticism before moving on to the plusses. THe book reminded me of the New Yorker magazine map of the US with Manhattan far larger than the rest of the country. The author must be a NYC-phile. The pennant race seemed to be significant because it was the Giants. Most of the newspaper quotes came from the "NY Times" or the "NY Herald". This was odd. Why quote the Herald when describing an event that took place in San Francisco or the Night Riders creating mayhem in Kentucky?

The good parts still are many. The auto race around the world was extremely interesting. The Wright brothers' tale was great. The descriptions of the people and the times (even if almost all were New Yorkers) were interesting, informative and captured the time. Cook's tale of trying for the North Pole was also good and captured the yen for exploration of the time. Roosevelt's sending the white fleet around the world was well-presented - was it bellicose, public relations, bravado or notice to the world? No one seemed then to have an answer.

In sum, the book was very good and informative. It just seemed the author wanted to cram a lot more significance into one year than was justified. He made valuable theses about how the technological and exploration advances were turning points that drove America into its modern day. Thus the sub-title "the Making of a Modern Nation". I think it could have been more effective if he had abandoned the one year approach and took the significant events - Wrights truly conquering, Ford mass-producing, the auto race "around the world" and the white fleet and used them to make the broader point. The last years of the first decade of the 20th century were turning points - all those points just didn't fit into the 366 days of this particular leap year.

Still recommended for all its good points and information interestingly presented.

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A good read...

Jim Rasenberger's "America, 1908" is a good read. Rasenberger skillfully blends narratives and details from an impressive list of other more comprehensive books about this important period in American history. While I have read several of the books Rasenberger cites in his source list, the idea of synthesizing all of these events into one book was a great idea.That's what caught my attention The only drawback of the book is Rasenberger's continual liberal comments sprinkled throughout. It's almost as if he didn't have the confidence that his creative idea was good enough. The comments are out of place and interrupt the flow of a otherwise very good story. I wish he had given the reader enough credit to realize that Teddy Roosevelt was a little odd or that Henry Ford was a little politically incorrect. The book could have stood on its own without the constant preaching and lamenting. Otherwise a good read...

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4

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