This souvenir book showcases some of the most influential and important treasures of the National Museum of African American History and Culture's collections. These include a hymn book owned by Harriet Tubman; ankle shackles used to restrain enslaved people on ships during the Middle Passage; a dress that Rosa Parks was making shortly before she was arrested; a vintage; open-cockpit Tuskegee Airmen trainer plane; Muhammad Ali's headgear; an 1835 Bill of Sale enslaving a young girl named Polly; and Chuck Berry's Cadillac. These objects tell us the full story of African American history; of triumphs and tragedies and highs and lows. This book; like the museum it represents; uses artifacts of African American history and culture as a lens into what it means to be an American.
#1198610 in Books PublicAffairs 2008-04-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 2.08 x 6.54 x 9.18l; 2.50 #File Name: 158648561X704 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An alright book about an alright country.By JamesThe book give in depth details about the American government and while at times it put me to sleep; it was overall interesting and informative. This book was published a few years ago; but many of the things discussed in the book are happening right now in America's government. Everyone should read this book because it shows how unique the United States of America really is. It provides valuable insight as to why American politics are so frustrating; and actually gives reason to respect the way American politics work. This book should interest anyone who is interested in political science or anyone who is interested in America in general.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great Supplemental Guide!By F.A.This text was a required supplement for my sociology seminar. It compiled short essays about the varying features of American society and politics. These essays are very useful summaries of America. Although each section provides many statistics to prove whether America is exceptional in that field or not; it is not very in depth. Each topic can be researched more thoroughly and opposite opinions can be formed from what each author believes. Overall; it is very informative and the author of each essay is one of the top experts in his/her field.28 of 30 people found the following review helpful. Great book-series of essays penned by leading experts in their fieldsBy Sutirtha BagchiI recently finished reading "Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation" and I liked it immensely. Let me mention the few aspects of the book that I enjoyed:1) It is very comprehensive covering a wide plethora of issues which any serious student of America would be interested in. In total there are 21 different chapters; with each of the first 20 chapters dealing with different facets of life such as immigration; demographics; religion; the economy; etc. For someone wanting to read a single book to get a better and deeper understanding of America as a country; this is it.2) I am glad that Dr. Wilson and Dr. Wilson; the editors of the book; stayed away from the urge of trying to author such a work on their own. By not doing so and having eminent scholars contribute their perspectives; we; as readers; have been able to glean insights from the leading experts in their fields and get glimpses of research across a variety of academic disciplines which no individual person could have possibly reviewed on his/ her own.3) In part because of this (though not exclusively); the essays are generally extremely balanced and present both sides of the same issue.4) Last but not the least; I am glad to note that neither Dr. Wilson nor Dr. Schuck abdicated their editorial responsibilities. Reading through the book; I get the distinct feeling that someone had actually taken the pains of reading through the entire manuscript and ensuring that facts and stats repeated in different sections of the text were consistent with each other. For example; the stats on the American fertility rate which shows up in more than one chapter has been sourced from the same source and is hence consistent across chapters; even though they were written by different authors.Some thoughts regarding the drawbacks; minor as they are:1) While it was nice to have a chapter on How Europe sees America; it would have been also nice to see a chapter on how the rest of the world sees the United States. Several of America's newest immigrants (including myself) are coming not from Europe but from Asia and Latin America and it would have been nice to see some discussion on how these developing countries see the United States.2) I would have also liked to see a separate chapter on Foreign Policy. As the authors allude to; America is the 800-pound gorilla in the room and not having any significant discussion on issues of foreign policy; national security; and; geopolitics is a minor drawback.In spite of all of the suggestions above; I nevertheless think Understanding America has been an extremely insightful read and worth the two days of my time over this weekend.
