The second in Hakim's projected ten-volume ``A History of US'' (also available: The First Americans, ISBN 0-19-507745-8). The tone is notably informal, even jocular, but not at the expense of content. Focusing here on Jamestown, the New England Puritans, and the other European colonists, the author brings a formidable amount of illuminating detail to a lively narrative, makes valuable connections between past and present, introduces important concepts in their original context, shares a contagious enthusiasm for history's pivotal ideas, colorful characters, and their stories, distinguishes between documented fact and conjecture, and reiterates such thoughts as that—among imported ideas, as well as both settlers and Indians—``Some are good, some are not so good,'' with examples to prove it. Her careful depiction of the Native American point of view is remarkably evenhanded. The breezy style occasionally leads to imprecision (``the Pope...didn't approve of all that marrying. So King Henry founded the Church of England''), but generally the text is lucid, accurate, and extraordinarily immediate; questions addressed to the reader are genuinely stimulating and provocative. Sidebars and captions amplify the main text; the many period illustrations are often crisply reproduced, but sometimes reduced beyond clarity (the flimsy see-through paper doesn't help). In every sense, a fresh look at our history; Hakim's perceptive eye, no-nonsense approach, and wit are all welcome. Chronology; ``More Books to Read'' (from an Aliki biography to Miller's The Crucible); index. (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-19-507747-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
African-Americans have fought in all this country's wars, and have always had to battle racism as well as the enemy; Super shows how Vietnam was a particularly bitter experience for them—made physically more dangerous by ingrained prejudice in the military, and rendered more of an inner trial by its aftermath and by the rising expectations fostered by the civil-rights movement. Despite a large cast of named participants, plus telling statistics and examples of discrimination and of heroism under fire, the book is more analytical than anecdotal, emphasizing the fact of racism over its specific manifestations. Super closes by pointing out that black veterans still suffer much higher rates of homelessness and unemployment than their white counterparts, and share a general sense that even now their contributions to the war are only beginning to be appreciated. Most useful as a source for middle- grade reports. Small selection of dark b&w photos; perfunctory bibliography; index. Another new entry in the African American Soldiers series, Kathryn Browne Pfeifer's Henry O. Flipper (ISBN: 0-8050-2351-8) covers the unhappy career of West Point's first black graduate. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-8050-2307-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1993
Calling on both contemporary travelers' accounts and songs of the griots, the McKissacks reconstruct the history of three West African empires, each of which flourished in turn, only to be nearly buried by time and scholarly prejudice. Supported by trade in gold, salt, and, later, slaves, all three enjoyed long stretches of prosperity and peace between the 6th and 18th centuries AD, practicing religious toleration and giving women enough freedom to shock visiting Muslims. Mansa Kankan Musa I of Mali (d. 1332) ``governed an empire as large as all of Europe, second in size only to the territory at the time ruled by Genghis Khan in Asia.'' Ironically, and typically, the very location of Musa's capital is disputed today. The McKissacks shed light on the area's enduring social structures and family customs as well as its political history; they present different sides of controversies, sometimes supporting one of them (e.g., the contention that an African expedition crossed the Atlantic during Musa's reign). A final chapter, about two 19th-century slaves from West Africa, one of whom eventually returned to his homeland, probably belongs in another book, but it does help to narrow the gap between today's young readers and this glorious, obscured era in African history. Timeline; endnotes; substantial bibliography. Maps and index not seen. (Nonfiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8050-1670-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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