Synopses & Reviews
America, how well do you know your history?
Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses?
Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor?
Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House?
What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back?
Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal?
Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue?
Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose?
Which four-eyed future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon?
In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism.
We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery.
What others are saying:
William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us ... that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage.... T]he importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner.... Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed.
-Brad Miner, American Compass
The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America.
-Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story-fairly and fully-from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book.
-Michael Barone, US News & World Report
Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth.
-Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute
Review
"Bennett does not break new ground or analyze why history unfolded as it did, but he does present American history in an optimistic and engaging manner. Recommended." Library Journal
Review
"William J. Bennett artfully and subtly makes connections between our past and current events, reminding us...that we are intimately and immediately connected to the extraordinary Americans who have bestowed upon us our great heritage....[T]he importance of America: The Last Best Hope probably exceeds anything Dr. Bennett has ever written, and it is more elegantly crafted and eminently readable than any comprehensive work of history I've read in a very long time. It's silly to compare great works of history to great novels, but this book truly is a page-turner....Prepare to have your faith in, hope for, and love of America renewed." Brad Miner, American Compass
Review
"The Role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important. He puts our nation's triumphs, along with its lapses, into the context of a narrative about the progress of freedom. Every now and then it's useful to be reminded that we are a fortunate people, blessed with generations of leaders who repeatedly renewed the meaning of America." Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Review
"For too long Americans have been looking for a history of our country that tells the story of America's triumphs as well as its tragedies. Now Bill Bennett has come forward with America: The Last Best Hope, which tells the story fairly and fully from 1492 to 1914. Americans who have been reading recent biographies of the Founding Fathers will love this book." Michael Barone, U.S. News & World Report
Review
"Bill Bennett's book will stand as perhaps the most important addition to American scholarship at this, the start of the new century. For the past fifty years American historians have either distorted American history or reduced it to a mess of boring indictments of our cultural and political heritage. With this book Bennett offers to Americans young and old an exciting and enjoyable history of what makes America the greatest nation on earth." Brian Kennedy, president, The Claremont Institute
Review
"If you believe that good historical writing involves years of archival research leading to the unearthing of new knowledge, Bennett's book will disappoint; all the references are to the works of previous historians, and no new discoveries await the reader. But non-academically trained historians have always tried to capture the grand sweep of the American past, so Bennett belongs in a long-established tradition. He has a strong sense of narrative, a flair for anecdote and a lively style." Alan Wolfe, The Washington Post Book World (read the entire Washington Post Book World review)
Synopsis
America, how well do you know your history?
- Who quelled a coup d'etat by putting on a pair of reading glasses?
- Which U.S. senator was nearly caned to death on the Senate floor?
- Which first lady refused to serve alcohol in the White House?
- What famous inventor was called to find the assassin's bullet in President Garfield's back?
- Which successful candidate for president insisted on telling the truth about his sex scandal?
- Which beloved ex-president raced with death and poverty to write his best-selling memoirs and which famous humorist came to his rescue?
- Which president carefully read the trial notes of 303 condemned Sioux warriors and spared all but 38 from the hangman's noose?
- Which "four-eyed" future president beat up a drunken bully in a saloon?
In his Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan said if we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are. This book, written by one of Reagan's most loyal lieutenants, responds to Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism.
We all need to know more about this land we love. In this gripping tale of a nation, our country's past comes alive. Here is the story of those we chose to lead us and what they did with the awesome power we gave them. Join Bill Bennett for the great adventure. America's teacher will lead you on a voyage of discovery.
About the Author
Dr. William J. Bennett is a best-selling author, educator, and speaker. Host of the top-ten nationally syndicated radio show Bill Bennett's Morning in America, he is also the Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute. Serving as secretary of education and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Bush, today Bennett is a regular contributor to CNN and has contributed to America's leading newspapers, magazines, and television shows. He is the author and editor of seventeen books, including The Book of Virtues and The Death of Outrage.