Arti­cle orig­i­nally pub­lished as Book Review: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming on Blogcritics.org About: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming is a non-fiction book about the tremulous year. Mr. Fleming is a historical novelist and historian with special interest in the American Revolution. 525 pages Pub­lisher: Book Sales Lan­guage: English ISBN-10: 0785807241 My rat­ing for 1776 Year of Illusions — 5 Buy this book from Amazon.com* More Books by Thomas Fleming Thoughts: 1776 Year of Illusions by Thomas Fleming (website) does not pull any punches when describing the political crisis in North America and how each side was seeking a resolution. For every person who was committed their whole heart to a revolution, there was another who could not fathom being separated from the English crown. The book mainly focuses on the military campaigns of 1776, however the fascinating political developments in Philadelphia and London are also addressed. The author follows the American rebels from the disastrous attempt to take over Quebec, Canada to the amazing victories at Trenton and Princeton. Mr. Fleming makes it clear that the colonial society was anything but united behind the rebels, but somehow they still managed to wing. Loyalists, those who favored British rule, where everywhere and, according to the…

Today, June 14, is flag day in the United States so I thought this post would be appropriate. My daughter who just finished second grade, decided to do her biography project on Betsy Ross (she had to do several persuasion papers, a biography, autobiography, an entrepreneurial project (design, build, and sell for profit a product – in her case an easel made out of popsicle sticks) and more), which I found a bit disconcerting. As an astute student of history I know that the only “proof” we have of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag is a family legend which started after she died by her grandchildren. At first I was put off by my daughter’s choice, mostly because of the tale told about Ms. Ross is now told so often and is printed in so many history books that it actually became fact, with absolutely no evidence. Much like George Washington’s wooden teeth (they were made of bone – could you imagine chewing with wood splinters?), or that Columbus discovered the Earth was round (the first globes went on sale the year Columbus sailed, by the way he didn’t “discover” America either) and many more. If you’re interested…

These stories makes you appreciate where you came from, and what people have done to preserve our way of life. The most fascinating parts are not the stories of the men and women who went on to bigger and better things, but the stories of those who came home, settled down, and lived a full life.

Andrew Jackson was born in northern South Carolina and at the age of 13 was already a member of the Revolutionary Army and a prisoner of the British. After securing his release, his mother left him an orphan at the age of 14, but Jackson thrived and became a lawyer through apprenticeships. By 1788 Jackson became the solicitor for Nashville, a frontier town.

As much as reading about the Founding Fathers is interesting, for me the real fascinating aspects of the book were the parts about the common soldiers, bystanders and even camp followers.

Article first published as Book Review: The United States Constitution: A Round Table Comic Graphic Adaptation Nadja Baer (Adapter) and Nathan Lueth (Illustrator) on Blogcritics. About: The United States Constitution: A Round Table Comic Graphic Adaptation Nadja Baer (Adapter), Thomas Jefferson (Author), John Adams (Author), Thomas Paine (Author), James Madison (Author) and Nathan Lueth (Illustrator) is an adaptation of the supreme law of the land in these United States. Dr. Katie Monnin, assistant professor of literacy at the University of North Florida, produced a curriculum guide (target towards 8th grade level) to supplement the comic book which is available free of charge at http://maupinhouse.com/constitutioncurriculum 80 pages Publisher: Writers Of The Round Table Press (April 16, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1610660250 Buy this Comic Graphic Adaptation in paper or in elec­tronic format. Thoughts: Right off the bat I liked that the author included the Founding Fathers in the title of this comic graphic adaptation. The United States Constitution: A Round Table Comic Graphic Adaptation by Nadja Baer (Adapter | website | Twitter), Thomas Jefferson (Author), John Adams (Author), Thomas Paine (Author), James Madison (Author) and Nathan Lueth (Illustrator | website | Twitter) takes the US Constitution and, using the original text, presents it in an easy to understand graphical format. This is a short book…

A coffee table book put out by Parragon Books to commemorate the 150thanniversary of the American Civil War, full of photographs, graphics, and visuals

A non-fiction historical account of the drive from Normandy to Germany. The book is a treasure trove of soldiers’ portraits, personal accounts and interviews.

Events leading up and after D-Day (Jan-Sept 1944) seeing through the eyes of Eisenhower, the Rommel, Bradley, Patton, von Rundstedt and ordinary soldiers

The Allies believe that Italy will be a piece of cake and they could move on the Germany. Italy did surrender but the Nazis kept on fighting.