Invisible Giants: 50 Americans That Shaped the Nation but Missed the History Books - Couverture rigide

Carnes, Mark C.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0195154177 ISBN 13 : 9780195154177

Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 2002

Synopsis

History is about people. Everyone has heard of Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Eddison, Emily Dickinson and know more or less the impact they had on American history. Names such as these have inspired generations of people. Not all great Americans, however, rose to this level of glory. History must be selective in order to be instructive, and many of the people who lived the lives and accomplished the goals that shaped America have faded from the spotlight. For example, who was Clarence Birdseye, what were his achievements and how did he get to achieve them? His idea made him a millionaire and his surname a household name. Invisible Giants tells the fascinating story of his lifeand the lives of others who, like him, missed the limelight. This collection of life histories, culled from the American National Biography, of fifty Americans who shaped American history without necessarily receiving the adulation or renown that they deserve, highlights America's rich biographical tapestry. Notable people in a variety of fields - individuals who are shaping the time we live in now - have been asked to select a person from America's past who they feel is both influential and overlooked. Invisible Giants will be a varied and lively collection of portraits reminding us that history may remember, but it also forgets. Edited under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies and with an introduction by Mark Carnes, General Editor of the American National Biography, Invisible Giants introduces the ANB to a broad audience worldwide.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

"An amazingly diverse gallery of important yet underappreciated Americans."--National Review

"Even history buffs will find a few surprises in this collection of essays about influential figures who haven't snagged many headlines. Fifty thoughtful Americans write about figures who might deserve more recognition for their accomplishments. With this volume, the contributions of figures from Roger Nash Baldwin and Arthur Goldberg to Dawn Powell and DeWitt Wallace will no longer go unnoticed."--Chicago Tribune

"An intriguing and highly readable view on lesser-known figures from U.S. history."--Library Journal

"Interestingly inquisitive...with surprises for even the most widely read."--Booklist

"A volume designed for enlightening browsing."--Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating volume whose principal virtue is respect for significant lives that have been lost and now found."--USA Today

"Fascinating reading.... Profile[s] the likes of blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson; James Agee, author of A Death in the Family and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men; Leon Czolgosz, who assassinated President William McKinley; Emma Goldman, anarchist and feminine activist; one-time heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano; and Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime empire."--The Dallas Morning News

Présentation de l'éditeur

Because history is as fallible as the people who record it, many of the figures who have shaped our country have receded from public memory. In order to celebrate and call attention to these lives, Oxford University Press asked fifty accomplished personalities from a diverse range of interests to each select a person from the 24-volume American National Biography that they felt deserved more attention. In Invisible Giants, the biographies of these forgotten figures appear alongside the often-personal comments of their selectors. We discover the man who inspired Sherwin Nuland to become a doctor, the writer Jacques Barzun considers America's first cultural critic, and the woman who taught Tina Brown to bare her teeth. We learn of the poetry recited to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., as a boy, the magazine Helen Gurley Brown required every one of her editors to subscribe to, and the book Andy Rooney deems "better than the Bible and easier to understand." Edited by Mark C. Carnes and published with the American Council of Learned Societies, Invisible Giants presents the architects of our country's past through the eyes of the architects of its future.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press Inc
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0195154177
• ISBN 13: 9780195154177
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 330
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie