Posts Tagged ‘American Revolution’
Friday, August 28th, 2009
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| Author: | Caroline Moorehead |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | non-fiction, history |
| Year of publication: | 2009 |
Lucie de la Tour du Pin was born into an aristocratic family, served as lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette in her early adulthood, then went on to marry for love (not common in those days), birth and lose many children, and survive the treacherous political turmoils that began with the French Revolution.
After reading this book, I was not certain I understood much more than I did before about the French Revolution, but I did empathize a great deal more than I had before with the French aristocracy of that time. For example, Moorehead continually implies that Talleyrand was evil (and was he so terrible compared to the many other participants of the Terror??!!!) but never quite tells us what awful things he did.
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Starting in mid-life, Lucie began a memoir, not published until long after she died, and I assume that Moorehead used this document as the basis for much of her narrative.
Which probably explains why the author flits between levels of detail; there are weeks of Lucie's life described down to the taste of the food she ate but then whole years pass without much information. I came away convinced not that history is written by the victors (a quote attributed, but not definitively assigned to Winston Churchill), but instead that history is written by those who write things down.
Not a book for the sensitive reader, but a fascinating description of an "ordinary", if upperclass, women who played a small part in history and lived to tell us about it. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era |
Tags:American Revolution, consequences of war, French Revolution, suffering in war, Terror, war, women in history
Posted in Biography, Child-raising, Conceptual: highly sophisticated, Culture, Death is a central theme, Female protagonist, Gifted, History, Reading level: Sophisticated reader | Comments Closed
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
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| Author: | Steven Johnson |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | Non-fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2008 |
A lovely biography of Joseph Priestley, a scientist, theologian, and political thinker.
In these days when we are trying, finally, to get the politics out of science, this book argues that the reverse, having scientists care about politics is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the United States and Britain. Not that kings and princes always wish it so.
Note to sensitive readers: Priestley's experiments often involved the use of live animals and plants, some of which died in the absence of oxygen.
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One of Priestley's great strengths was in his ability to create experiments and to note details that signaled where his results might be followed up by further experiments. Priestley was less adept at giving up on assumptions that he brought into the experiments to begin with.
Another great strength was his ability, in fact, his obsession, with exchanging information with other scientists.
This biography serves as a tribute to the scientific method (which Priestley did not really follow), Joseph Priestley, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and, in an interesting way, John Adams.
Highly recommended.
-- Emily |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Invention of Air, The |
Tags:American Revolution, Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, book review, deism, experiments, Franklin, Jefferson, Joseph Priestley, Priestley, scientific experiments, scientific method, Thomas Jefferson, unitarianism
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science | Comments Closed
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
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Tags:1776, American Revolution, consequences of war, Declaration of Independence, George Washington, Independence Day, July 4, suffering in war, war
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Death is a central theme, Gifted, History, Parenting gifted children, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
