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An American Primer
From the Mayflower Compact of 1620 to President Johnson's 1965 Address of Voting Rights, here are documents that will endure as long as our nation exists. The eighty-three selections in this volume span the spectrum of American political, economic and cultural history as it was made, and as it was lived. All are put in clear perspective as they are analyzed by distinguished historians.
"Splendid and generous reading ... a rich, vivid, and comprehensive piece of Americana." —The New York Times Book Review
"Splendid and generous reading ... a rich, vivid, and comprehensive piece of Americana." —The New York Times Book Review
1056 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Daniel J. Boorstin
154 books351 followersDaniel Joseph Boorstin was a historian, professor, attorney, and writer. He was appointed twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress from 1975 until 1987.
He graduated from Tulsa's Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 15. He graduated with highest honors from Harvard, studied at Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned his PhD at Yale University. He was a lawyer and a university professor at the University of Chicago for 25 years. He also served as director of the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution.
His The Americans The Democratic Experience received the 1974 Pulitzer Prize in history.
Within the discipline of social theory, Boorstin’s 1961 book The Image A Guide to Pseudo-events in America is an early description of aspects of American life that were later termed hyperreality and postmodernity. In The Image, Boorstin describes shifts in American culture—mainly due to advertising—where the reproduction or simulation of an event becomes more important or "real" than the event itself. He goes on to coin the term pseudo-event which describes events or activities that serve little to no purpose other than to be reproduced through advertisements or other forms of publicity. The idea of pseudo-events closely mirrors work later done by Jean Baudrillard and Guy Debord. The work is still often used as a text in American sociology courses.
When President Gerald Ford nominated Boorstin to be Librarian of Congress, the nomination was supported by the Authors League of America but opposed by the American Library Association because Boorstin "was not a library administrator." The Senate confirmed the nomination without debate.
Boorstin died in 2004 in Washington, D.C.
He graduated from Tulsa's Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 15. He graduated with highest honors from Harvard, studied at Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned his PhD at Yale University. He was a lawyer and a university professor at the University of Chicago for 25 years. He also served as director of the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution.
His The Americans The Democratic Experience received the 1974 Pulitzer Prize in history.
Within the discipline of social theory, Boorstin’s 1961 book The Image A Guide to Pseudo-events in America is an early description of aspects of American life that were later termed hyperreality and postmodernity. In The Image, Boorstin describes shifts in American culture—mainly due to advertising—where the reproduction or simulation of an event becomes more important or "real" than the event itself. He goes on to coin the term pseudo-event which describes events or activities that serve little to no purpose other than to be reproduced through advertisements or other forms of publicity. The idea of pseudo-events closely mirrors work later done by Jean Baudrillard and Guy Debord. The work is still often used as a text in American sociology courses.
When President Gerald Ford nominated Boorstin to be Librarian of Congress, the nomination was supported by the Authors League of America but opposed by the American Library Association because Boorstin "was not a library administrator." The Senate confirmed the nomination without debate.
Boorstin died in 2004 in Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 29, 2022
This was almost a year-long process for me, reading and processing these formative documents. It was a re-affirmation of the idea that we as a country aspire to greatness, fall short and aspire again. I enjoyed the journey.
June 28, 2008
If you don't know much about your country . . . get to it. And here's your chance. In just over 1000 pages, you get a, yes, primer on America. Of course you've got writing about and by Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Washington. You've got the Dec. of Ind., Constitution (ever read it? YOU MUST!), Monroe Doctrine, and so on. But what about Mary Easty's the Petition of an Accused Witch? Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Address on the Divorce Bill? (If you ladies don't read everything she and Susan B Anthony have written, then pack your bags and show your lack of appreciation elsewhere!), Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health? Man, and woman, you need to read this. Yes, YOU Mr. and Mrs. American!!!!! PRIME ON!!!!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews