Author: David Reynolds
Title: America,
Empire of Liberty:
A New History
Genre: History
Year: 2009
Pages: 600
Origin: a borrowed read
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5
David Reynolds has made an accomplished career as an
historian of the English speaking world, principally in the relationship
between
England the
United States of America.
Therefore, it is suitable that his book on American history sold by the
bucket-load and received wide critical acclaim.
America,
Empire of Liberty is billed as ‘a new history’. Yes, every new history book is
generally a new interpretation of the past (bar all of those terrible Kindle
historical reads that seem to proliferate like a disease), and it is
interesting to read Reynolds' narrative. He highlights three key themes that are
continually referred to throughout the book: Empire, Liberty and Faith. Empire connects with the
formation of America (from Britain’s own
empire), its conquering of the American continent, the belief in Manifest
Destiny and its flexing of muscles on the world stage. The second theme Liberty refers to America’s
awakening in the revolution against Britain, its adherence to a
constitution, and its beacon status to the rest of the democratic world (as
well as the charge of hypocrisy thrown at its door in the past century). Faith –
the least interesting of the three – charts the various religious groups and
dimensions that flocked to America
to escape persecution, before helping shape the American dimension to the
present day.
In many ways the book treads familiar ground, examining key
points in American history: yes, the revolution, the Civil War, American’s
expansion in foreign policy, the civil rights movement, and the Cold War. But
throughout all of this Reynolds poses contradictory views in his chapters, such
as ‘Slave or Free?’, ‘War and Peace’, and ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Furthermore,
it is of interest in the shaping of the American presence or character, defined
by these external forces and polar opposites, seen no more clearly than in America’s challenge
to Soviet Russia in the second half of the twentieth century.
Reynolds writes in a clear and entertaining manner, making
this read – without a doubt – one of the Worm’s most pleasurable experiences
within the History field during the past year. New ground is not chartered, but
in terms of American history “new” cannot be found in such an overwhelming environment
of historical research. New interpretations, however, are always welcome. As
such, Reynolds gains 4 golden nods from the Worm.
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