Rating: 5 out of 5
There are many ways for a book to make itself memorable, and I think this summation of David McCullough does the best part of almost all of them. The essays included here cover a wide repertoire with different original objectives. Yet, the compendium is a joy to behold. Indeed, some ideas from here have stayed actively with me since finishing the title while others were immediately worthy of sharing.
The biggest question of course comes down to what is history in our imagination. The second is what is writing. The third is putting the two together: what is writing history. McCullough had interesting ideas on all these subjects, and his answers in general relate to making it accessible and personal. These are concepts I wholeheartedly agree with.
In addition to receiving a huge number of potential other books to read, it was also interesting to experience the author’s point of view in engaging with several subjects. As this was again one of my introductions before engaging with McCullough’s ‘Truman’, these views—and learning what he liked about the nab—were great! I also liked learning about the motivations behind ‘The Johnstown Flood’ given it was one of the titles I was already familiar with.
Overall, a great work which I really enjoyed!
