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    50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.
    50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.
    50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.
    Audiobook9 hours

    50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.

    Written by Brent D. Glass

    Narrated by Norman Dietz

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    About this audiobook

    From Massachusetts to Florida to Washington to California, 50 Great American Places takes you on a journey through our nation's history. Sharing the inside stories of sites as old as Mesa Verde (Colorado) and Cahokia (Illinois) and as recent as Silicon Valley (California) and the Mall of America (Minnesota), each essay provides the historical context for places that represent fundamental American themes: the compelling story of democracy and self-government; the dramatic impact of military conflict; the powerful role of innovation and enterprise; the inspiring achievements of diverse cultural traditions; and the defining influence of the land and its resources.

    Sites you would expect-in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC-are here, as well as plenty of surprises, such as the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, or Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, or the Village Green in Hudson, Ohio; less obvious places that, together with the more well-known destinations, collectively tell the story of America. For families who want to take a trip that is both educational and entertaining, for history enthusiasts, or anyone curious about our country's greatest places, this book is the perfect guide.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 16, 2016
    ISBN9781515980629
    Author

    Brent D. Glass

    Brent D. Glass is Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. A national leader in the preservation, interpretation, and promotion of history, Glass is a public historian who pioneered influential oral history and material culture studies, an author, television presence, and international speaker on public memory and museum management. He lives in Washington, DC.

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    Reviews for 50 Great American Places

    4/5

    16 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      In this book, Glass examines 50 sites of historical importance to the United States and its development. These range from places where Revolutionary War battles were fought, to places that kick-started struggles for racial and gender equality, to places where inventions that changed the country (and the world) took off.While it's listed as a travel book and definitely does have information for tourists, this book is more like a super-fascinating history lesson. Or, more accurately, 50 short history lessons. Although there are 50 essays, some of these end up covering multiple spots. For instance, one chapter covers EPCOT, Celebration, and Maitland ... all places close to each other in Florida.Even with the places listed in this book that I've already been to (such as the Liberty Bell), I ended up learning new information. Glass manages to pack a real wallop of facts within each essay, even though most are only a few pages long. Of greater still interest for me were places I'm less familiar with or was unaware of before reading this book (such as the Cahokia Mounds).In terms of format, the places addressed here are put forward in chronological order of their significance to American history. Hence you'll find historic Salem (and its infamous witch trials) earlier on in the book and Silicon Valley towards the very end. Each essay ends with website links for more information; extensive backmatter includes a bibliography and index.This was a very enlightening read that I'd highly recommend to those who enjoy travel (armchair or physical) and/or history. My one small quibble is the black-and-white photos that start each chapter aren't always the best.
    • 4/5
      A fun read. A lot of research went into this book and resulted in a very interesting overview of American history through "visiting" 50 of our most notable places. I really do not know how he kept the list to 50 or decided which to include & leave off the list. Well done.
    • 5/5

      50 Great American Places by Brent D. Glass is a very highly recommended guide to 50 places that have cultural and historical significance in the USA.

      Brent Glass is the director emeritus of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, so this is an expert guiding you to the sites included.
      He writes "I envision 50 Great American Places as a contribution to historical literacy. Historical literacy is more than simply knowing the names of leaders or when famous battles were fought. It involves understanding the context of historical events and how events are connected. Above all, history is a resource for understanding our own lives and times. Sustaining a democratic society in America is not possible without citizens who know and love its history. We cannot participate fully in democracy without historical knowledge."

      This is a great guide and would be a perfect addition for any excursion planned across the USA. The essays for the 50 places are organized chronologically. All of them are a few pages long but full of pertinent information about and the historical or cultural significance of each place and, sometimes nearby places. Included at the end of the information are websites listed for each site and nearby places of interest. Glass also points out that "The National Park Service (NPS) websites are uniformly reliable and good resources for information about national parks, battlefields, historic sites, memorials, and monuments. The NPS sites also include good maps and updated information about programs and events. Websites generally provide current information about hours of operations, fees, and construction that might limit access to certain sites or collections."

      The list of places by state includes the town or city in which the site is located or, in some cases, the nearest town to that site. The site mentioned on this list is the major subject of each essay.
      ALABAMA Huntsville/Saturn V Rocket
      ARIZONA Tucson/Mission San Xavier del Bac
      ARKANSAS Little Rock/Little Rock Central High School
      CALIFORNIA Burbank/Warner Bros. Studio La Jolla/Salk Institute Palo Alto/Silicon Valley San Francisco/El Presidio at the Golden Gate
      COLORADO Cortez/Mesa Verde
      CONNECTICUT Hartford/Nook Farm
      DELAWARE New Castle/New Castle Court House Museum
      FLORIDA Orlando/EPCOT Celebration Maitland/Research Studio
      GEORGIA Atlanta/Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site
      HAWAII Honolulu/Pearl Harbor
      IDAHO Jerome/Minidoka
      ILLINOIS Collinsville/Cahokia Mounds Chicago/World’s Columbian Exposition
      INDIANA New Harmony
      KANSAS Lawrence/Allen Field House Manhattan/Kansas State University
      LOUISIANA New Orleans/Jazz National Historical Park
      MARYLAND Baltimore/B&O Railroad Museum
      MASSACHUSETTS Boston/Freedom Trail Salem/Witch Trials Memorial
      MICHIGAN Dearborn/Ford River Rouge Complex
      MINNESOTA Edina/Southdale Center Bloomington/Mall of America
      MISSOURI St. Louis/Gateway Arch
      MONTANA Crow Agency/Little Bighorn Battlefield
      NEBRASKA Red Cloud/Willa Cather Foundation
      NEVADA Boulder City/Hoover Dam
      NEW JERSEY West Orange/Edison’s Laboratory
      NEW MEXICO Santa Fe/Palace of the Governors
      NEW YORK New York/Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty New York/Grand Central Terminal Seneca Falls/Women’s Rights National Historical Park
      NORTH CAROLINA Asheville/Biltmore House Kill Devil Hills/Wright Brothers National Memorial
      OHIO Hudson/Village Green
      OKLAHOMA Claremore/Will Rogers Highway
      PENNSYLVANIA Gettysburg/Gettysburg National Military Park Philadelphia/Liberty Bell Pittsburgh/Forks of the Ohio
      RHODE ISLAND Pawtucket/Slater Mill
      SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston/Fort Sumter National Monument
      SOUTH DAKOTA Pine Ridge/Wounded Knee Memorial
      TENNESSEE Nashville/Ryman Auditorium
      TEXAS San Antonio/The Alamo
      UTAH Salt Lake City/Temple Square
      VIRGINIA Charlottesville/Monticello Yorktown/Virginia Peninsula
      WASHINGTON Richland/Hanford B Reactor
      WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Mall WISCONSIN Spring Green/Taliesin
      WYOMING Yellowstone National Park


      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Simon & Schuster for review purposes.