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Publisher:
William Morrow / HarperCollins |
Release
Date: April 13, 2004 |
ISBN:
0060090251 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardcover |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Nonfiction / Historical (Colonial America and American
Revolution) |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Janine Peterson |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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Founding Mothers
The Women
Who Raised Our Nation
By Cokie Roberts
Cokie
Roberts’ book presents a fascinating perspective of the women
before and during the American Revolution. The book presents interwoven
biographies of many women including Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Abigail
Adams, and Martha Washington. The stories are presented in chronological
order, and Roberts paints a convincing and lifelike portrait of
each woman by explaining the historical context. Some women display
traces of modern feminism, some are content to let the men shine,
and some act behind the scenes to work their influence through the
men. Roberts quotes extensively from letters the women wrote to
each other and to the men of the time and from essays and plays
some women published. Well researched, well documented, and with
a clear subject, this book is a great reference and a surprisingly
original study of a much-studied time period. The book contains
a valuable “Who’s Who” list linking the women
to their more famous husbands, brothers, and sons as well as an
appendix of recipes from the women’s own kitchens.
However,
the author seems unaware of who her audience is. Much of the history
is so specific to the American women that it assumes a basic-to-moderate
understanding of the day-to-day history of the American Revolution.
My history was a bit rusty, but I was certainly able to follow the
narrative and research elsewhere details that intrigued me. However,
the author breaks this historical tone with interjections like “Phew!”
and “Wow!” that are more appropriate to beach reading
than a historical analysis. Either presentation would work –
the author knows her history well enough to write a great historical
reference, and the topic is fascinating enough to make for great
beach reading, the changes in tone as she attempted both were jarring.
All
in all, Roberts has written a book that is informative and interesting
to read. Her difficulties in setting a tone are overshadowed by
the depth of her research and understanding.
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