One of the most interesting books I have ever read

by Hush Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:19 pm

If you think you know something about The USA you definitely have to read this book!

Why American History Is Not What They Say: An Introduction to Revisionism

Writer: Jeff Riggenbach
Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute
Date of publication: 2009 (Yes you haven't read it before Cool

)
Number of pages:212 pages
Form: PDF
Size: 1,7 MB

Description: Jeff Riggenbach's book is a godsend for anyone who needs a crash course
in revisionist history of the United States. What is revisionism? It is the retelling of history from a point of view that differs from the mainstream, which always treats the victor (the state) as glorious and the conquered (individual liberty) as deserving of its fate.

There is a massive literature of revisionist American history. It is so vast, in fact, that people whose field is economics, law, or philosophy can feel intimidated by it all, especially since this material is not taught in class. Must we accept the idea that the architects of the Constitution loved liberty, that Lincoln was a liberator, that the United States had to crush Spain in the late 19th century, that World War I was unavoidable, that the U.S. was always the good guy in the Cold War?

No, not at all, say the revisionists. They tell a version of events that turns every convention on its head. But there is yet another problem here: most of the major revisionist historians are writing from the point of view of the political left, and their interpretation is skewed by that bias. What Riggenbach does is offer a thoroughgoing critique of leftwing revisionism in favor of a distinctly libertarian form of revisionism.

This book is a roundup of the major figures and the most important books; it is also a clear-headed assessment of all the major controversies. What you get from this one book is what would otherwise take a student months or years of searching in the library to locate
and learn. There has never been anything like it.

This book is written in an engaging style, with the goal of sharing as much knowledge of this literature with the reader as is possible. In this way, this book opens up whole worlds you never knew existed.

There is no longer any reason to feel lost in the thicket of interpretation and reinterpretation. Like Virgil in the Inferno, Riggenbach is your guide.

by Hush Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:23 pm

And that's another present for those who are willing to know

The Origins of American Literature Studies: An Institutional History

Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521883458
edition 2007
PDF
232 pages
1,37 mb

Although American literature is now a standard subject in the American college curriculum, a century ago few people thought it should be taught there. Elizabeth Renker uncovers the complex historical process through which American literature overcame its image of aesthetic and historical inferiority to become an important field for academic study and research. Renker's extensive original archival research focuses on four institutions of higher education serving distinct regional, class, race and gender populations. She argues that American literature's inferior image arose from its affiliation with non-elite schools, teachers and students, and that it had to overcome this social identity in order to achieve status as serious knowledge. Renker's revisionary analysis is an important contribution to the intellectual history of the United States and will be of interest to anyone studying, teaching or researching American literature.