Forgotten No More

The Forgotten Fifth by Gary Nash
Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2006.
ix, 235 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.

I almost forgot to put up a review of this book that I read toward the end of the summer vacation, but it is a wonderful history book.  The subtitle of the the book explains what this history is about: African Americans in the Age of Revolution.      

The book grew out of a distinguished series of lectures given by Nash at Harvard University and fills in a lot of the missing history of African Americans and their fortunes and activities during the American Revolution.

The book really conveys how unfortunate the Revolution and its outcome was for so many African American slaves, and how the rise of even more vicious White Supremacy and racist hatred affected African American patriots of the Revolution.

I especially wanted to post a review of the book because of the current rising power of White Supremacy in the US.  I also wanted to be sure and mention that this book makes a great companion to the book - In the Shadow of Liberty.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Shining a Light on the Shadows

In the Shadow of Liberty: the Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis.
New York : Henry Holt and Co., 2016.
xvii, 286 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

I was interested in this book as soon as I saw a review of it.  The Shadow of Liberty seemed like a great addition to the limited resources that we have on the period of the American Revolution and early history of the republic - and one that students might actually pick up and read.  As the book's subtitle indicates, it also might have a nice resonance with the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement. But what finally motivated me to read it this summer was seeing that one of our history teachers launched a Donors Choose page in order to get enough copies of the book for his class so he could use it as a central text.

This is a great young adult history book.  It's very interesting, has succinct chapters, and relates a history that is rarely told - the role of several of the first US presidents in keeping people enslaved.  It's also great in that it does not in anyway minimize the criminality and cruelty of enslaving people, but it also tries to wrestle with the complicated relationships that developed within that awful system.  Davis often just lets the actions of people speak for the conflicted loyalties, humanity and inhumanity that resulted from slavery.  He allows us to hear from former enslaved people when such texts exist, and lets us reach our own conclusions about why some enslaved people escaped when the opportunity arose and why some did not when the same circumstances existed.  He also tries hard to contextualize comments positive and negative that enslavers and the enslaved made.

I also really appreciate his introduction where he lays his own moral judgements on the table, and where he explains why he is so careful to use the word enslaved to describe those held in bondage instead of the word "slave." It is a powerful semantic tool, one which another writer on the history of slavery in the US also uses to great effect.

I'm glad that I read this book.  I'm pleased that it is going to be taught in our school.  I will definitely recommend it.

An Escape to Treasure

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
New York : Signet Classics, [2008]
xviii, 204 p. : map ; 18 cm.

I probably wouldn't have read Treasure Island if I hadn't heard it referred to in a New Yorker poetry podcast featuring the poetry editor, Paul Muldoon, and poet, Tom Sleigh, discussing a poem by Seamus Heaney that references Treasure Island.  How's that for a convoluted beginning?  It wasn't just the discussion, but it was Muldoon's mentioning that he absolutely loves Treasure Island, and reads it frequently.  That caught my attention, and so I brought it home with me to read over the summer.

So was it worth reading?  Definitely.  The novel moves along at a quick pace with skilled plotting and has wonderful characters, too.  The admirable young protagonist, Jim Hawkins, the devilish Israel Hands, and the wily and dangerous Long John Silver are unforgettable. 

The novel creates the template for pirate fiction, and does it with dash.  This is a fun novel that I would definitely recommend to students.

A Shot of History

The Duel by Judith St. George
New York, N.Y. : Speak, 2016.
99 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

This is a wonderful little book of history that should have wide appeal.  How can you not be interested in a fatal duel between a sitting US Vice President and history's most famous US Treasurer (who graces the $10 bill and was founder of the Bank of the United States)?  Not to mention that one of the men in this notorious duel is now at the center of one of the most popular and successful shows on Broadway - Hamilton!

In less than 100 pages, St. George is able to convey the amazing adventures that were the lives of these two US revolutionaries, one who began his life without the benefit of money or a legal father and who was orphaned at a young age.  The other was from a well-to-do family, but also was orphaned early in his life.  Both men, close in age and similarly intelligent, brave and ambitious - have lives that crossed each other during and after the American Revolution.  Their two stories came crashing together in a climatic duel in 1804 across the Hudson from New York City.  Only one of the walked away from the duel.  Who?  Well, you'll have to read the book to find out, and you won't be disappointed.

Definitely a US history book to recommend.