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Jim Rasenberger's previous book was America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T, and the Making of a Modern Nation. He is also the author of High Steel: The Daring Men Who Built the World's Greatest Skyline and has written for The New York Times, Vanity toon meer Fair, Smithsonian, and The Wilson Quarterly, among other publications. A native of Washington, D.C., he lives in New York City with his wife and sons. toon minder

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Tonight I finished a very interesting American History book; America 1908. Unlike most history books that can be overly dry and factual, author Jim Rasenberger has a talent for making history come alive! His writing is light and easy with the ability to make the historic ground-breaking events of 1908 extremely exciting.

Those readers who love history, adventure, innovation, and exploration, or have a passionate interest in the progress of our country, will love this wonderful book. I never realized how important the year 1908 was until now.

America 1908 highlights the incredible events of Henry Ford's creation of the Model T automobile that took the country by storm, the exciting and dangerous New York to Paris car race, the horrors of the explorers racing to be the first to discover the North Pole, Teddy Roosevelt's success with the Great White Fleet that logged in 43,000 miles in order to pave the way of creating allies for the upcoming Great War, and lastly the feature event of the year, the Wright brothers sensational conquering of the air claiming fame with their first record-breaking flights! From Kitty Hawk North Carolina all the way to France, they were the heroes of 1908!

Although I read this is sections in between other novels, I found this book simply riveting and a page turner. To learn how our country evolved due to the actions of the leaders and forerunners of the era was eye-opening and fascinating! Five Stars!
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vernefan | 4 andere besprekingen | Jun 13, 2018 |
Being a panoramic look at one of America's more interesting ragtime years, 1908. The author does a good job of keeping a lot of balls in the air; major themes include the voyage of the Great White Fleet, Theodore Roosevelt, basebal's Merkle game, the Wright Brothers, polar exploration, and the New York-Paris auto race. Rasenberger has a good ear for the telling anecdote and contemporary sources which will bring the year's zeitgeist alive. This book was both informative and entertaining.
½
 
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Big_Bang_Gorilla | 4 andere besprekingen | Jul 31, 2015 |
Twice I have been to the little Bay of Pigs Museum while visiting Miami. Twice it has been closed! What a disappointment. This book then may be as close as I get. I can't see how you could tell this story much better. It is written in a thrilling 'you are there' style with little facts adding to its veracity. A quick example: He mentions a weather forecast of possible frost in the D.C. suburbs on the morning of April 19th. I looked it up: Sure enough BWI (then Friendsip Airport) fell to 37F that morning. Dulles Airport records did not even begin in 1962. Where speculation is called for he is more than willing to admit that it is just that. In terms of the never-ending blame game on the Bay of Pigs no one in this account really gets a 'pass' but no one is completely eviscerated either. There is blame and (some) credit for all (well, most). Overall I felt the author did a commendable job of even-handed treatment. The description of all the incredible personalities is just fascinating. I recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in the Kennedy years, the Cold War, CIA, Cuba and even the path to Vietnam. Splendid work!… (meer)
½
 
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PCorrigan | 3 andere besprekingen | Oct 6, 2014 |
This book came out in 2008 as a "One Century Later!" kind of book. But it's still good in 2014

The author is a teriffic story teller and he has some great stories to tell.

We celebrate 1903 as the year of the Wright Brothers first flight but forget that the 1903 Flyer could only fly straight lines and could (barely) achieve level flight.
It was the 1908 Flyer that figured out wing warping and could comfortably fly figure 8's and bank and swoop. It was the 1908 Flyer that secured the Wrights' claim to "the first practical airplane"

1908 was also the year of the first New York to Paris road race for cars. How do you get from New York to Paris in a car? Easy! Drive up to Alaska and go over on the frozen ice of the Bering Strait. (NOT!)

America was still - pre World War I - the new kid in international affairs and our author tells the story of the Great White Fleet that sailed around the world and basically threw America's hat in the ring and made people take the young country more seriously.

And the great story of "Merkle's Boner" in the 1908 World's Series and generally how baseball was played and reported back in the day.

Great book for dipping into and flipping through - or reading straight through. A lot of fun. A lot to think about.
… (meer)
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magicians_nephew | 4 andere besprekingen | Apr 11, 2014 |

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Werken
4
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464
Populariteit
#53,001
Waardering
4.0
Besprekingen
10
ISBNs
26

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