Publisher Description
Renowned historian Jim Rasenberger turns his keen eye on America at the dawn of the 20th century-a time when innovation seemed to know no bounds. “Rasenberger renders 1908 as a series of snapshots, and his camera never blinks.”-Publishers Weekly
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“America 1908 is a wonderful look at a year that shaped the course of the 20th century for America and defined a generation leapfrogging technology in a way that would not be seen until the Second World War. Unlike many history of technology books this is really a social look at some of the great achievement of the year and focuses on not only technology, but politics and baseball as a way to address the social medium and change of the time. From the onset of progressivism to the Model T and advent of the airplane the year 1908 was filled with milestones. Baseball is a prominent feature in the book and the famed penut race of 1908 is detailed perfectly in here focusing on what happened in baseball after the first ball dropped from Times Square kicking off this whimsical and climatic year. Although new to Rasenberger as a historian I was favorably impressed by his analysis and careful thought in what to include on a book spanning multiple topics over 1 year. While many times these books can appear random this author does an excellent job of sticking to salient information and presenting clear correlations between his topics. I will say that while some events are not as important or as earth shattering as others they still make for interesting reading. Overall it’s a great addition to history of technology and American social history and well worth a read.”
—
Brian (4 out of 5 stars)
