Booknotes: Stories from American History

by Brian Lamb (Compiler)

American history is shaped by great and small events, and in recent years a generation of writers has brought these events to life. They have shared these stories with the viewers of the long-running C-SPAN author-interview program Booknotes , and here some of the best have been collected for readers to savor. In this volume, more than eighty contemporary writers and historians examine seminal moments from American history, celebrated and uncelebrated alike.

Booknotes offers readers conversational essays edited from the interview show, providing an enticing selection of author-subject pairings. For anyone interested in America's rich history-and especially the devoted fans of C-SPAN's Booknotes -this is an engaging compendium of information, opinions, and new perspectives.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Essays, Reference, Politics, Books About Books

556 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Brian Lamb, founder of C-SPAN, currently serves as the C-SPAN Networks' Executive Chairman. Since C-SPAN's founding in 1979, Brian has been a regular on-camera presence, interviewing all presidents since Reagan and many world leaders, members of Congress, journalists and authors. Over 15 years beginning in 1989, Brian interviewed 801 nonfiction authors for a weekly series called "Booknotes." Currently, Brian hosts "Q & A," a Sunday evening, hour-long interview program with people who are making things happen in the public sphere.

Six books of collected Brian Lamb interviews have been published by PublicAffairs based on the "Booknotes" and "Q & A" series, most recently, "Sundays at Eight." And in 2010, PublicAffairs published "The Supreme Court," a collection of interviews Brian and C-SPAN colleague Susan Swain conducted with eleven current and former Supreme Court justices. C-SPAN's 10th book with PublicAffairs, "The Presidents: Noted Historians Rank America's Best - and Worst - Chief Executives," was published in spring 2019.

Brian's work with C-SPAN has been recognized with the Presidential Medal of Honor and the National Humanities Medal. In 2011, Purdue University, Brian's alma mater, announced the naming of the Brian Lamb School of Communication.

Brian is a longtime resident of Arlington, Virginia. When he's not devouring newspapers, websites, nonfiction books, or Thai food at his favorite local restaurant, Brian is likely in hot pursuit of the latest country music release.

Reviews

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, a book I read in a single day while substitute teaching at my local high school. But this is a book I absolutely loved and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a whole new list of great non fiction books to read!

It's hard to describe what this book is. It's basically the "condensed" version of the Booknotes TV show on C Span. Each little chapter is basically an author explaining what his book is about, and giving a summary of his subject. They last about four pages but they are incredibly interesting. The only two I didn't like were the guys who wrote about Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, since it was obvious they weren't interested in looking into the unpleasant sides of American history.

The best book interview was with the gentleman who wrote "The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie." This was a slave ship that went down off Key West around 1700. The author describes how a team of black scuba divers and white archaeologists worked together to bring up the wreckage, and how working together forced them to discuss race in America in ways adult males usually don't. Now I really want to read that book!

There was also a great interview with a guy who wrote a book about Charles Lindbergh, and a really good book about the Roosevelt family, not just Teddy and Franklin and Eleanor but all of their children and the huge emotional issues they had. This author was really not afraid to dish the dirt!

This was an amazing book and if you read it I guarantee you will get excited by a lot of the stories that are told.

[Judy Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem. It is a window into American history in a format that typically is not found elsewhere. The chapters are in chronological order so that even though each is from a different author and addresses a different topic, there is a nice progression as the book moves along. The chapter from pages 93 - 96 by Joseph E. Stevens is the best and clearest explanation of the American Civil War I've come across. As Stevens states: "As we look back at history, we feel that whatever happened was inevitable, and that's not true. The Confederacy could have won. And if it had won, we would be living in a very different country. That's really one of the amazing things about 1863 and what make it such an important year."

Another fascinating topic is "Women of the Slaveholding South" by Drew Gilpin Faust (pp. 86-92). I've now added her book "Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War' to read next.

Brian Lamb of C-SPAN is a terrific interviewer and has done an equally great job putting this book together.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsure if you want to delve into a 450-page book about some aspect of American history? These vignettes from Brian Lamb with several dozen authors is terrific and will turn you onto some outstanding reads. Many of these writers are big-time historians who are pretty casual and tell great yarns. This is really good material, and it's not just the obvious stuff.

Donald Kagan on the Cuban Missile Crisis and Jack Rakove on Creating the Constitution, Pauline Maeir on Declaring Independence, David Kennedy on FDR ... And where else can you get 5-8 pages on the Scopes Trial, Jefferson Davis, the nurses captured at Bataan, Robert Frost at the JFK Inauguration, and five dozen more.

[Annette]

This collection (3rd in the series of Booknotes titles) of seventy-eight interviews from the founding C-Span CEO and author http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st... provides chapter summaries of seminal events in American history. Contemporary writers and historians focus on a moment or event(s) in history that influenced and shaped our country. Visit the Booknotes website http://www.booknotes.org/home/ (lj)

[Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any work that consists of an anthology, this is going to be somewhat subjective to my tastes, and how useful I found all of these stories overall. Often, it is difficult to try and rate each work individually (I know, I tried with this book) and often one has to ask the question: Is this book as good as the sum of it’s parts? I have to say yes...with a caveat.

As can be said of any anthology, there are some good notes here, and some mediocre ones. Each author attempts to sell you on the book that they have just published, and that you should read it. The authors range from those that I vaguely know of, to those that have clearly not withstood the test of time, and now have been forgotten by the general public. Some of the topics are highly interesting, with ideas and works on everything from former slave ships, to the work of a president while he was in office. I think that this book got off to a rough start for me with the colonial era, since I simply knew much of the information already, and/or the works simply weren’t written that well to make me want to read the author’s text. Others were quite interesting, and a concise version of what the person wrote about made me want to find their book and read more.

But now to the caveat. There is simply no getting around the fact that this book is old...almost 20 years old, in fact. I would not bring this up, except for the fact that technology has passed the need for a book like this. Today, Booknotes has been off the air for over a decade, and many of the full interviews, running from 1989 to 2004, over an hour each, are available to stream online for free, or purchase on DVD if you really feel the need to do so. With that said, is there really a need to buy this book? If you want a more condensed version of the interview, perhaps, but who is to say that these are really the best stories, and that you won't miss something by not looking at their website with over 800 interviews? Also, I must confess that I am the kind of person that likes to multi-task, or at times, simply not read a book, and these interviews are more preferable to listen to as I use the internet or do other menial tasks, which, if you are anyone like me, is something to consider. In the end, I would give this book a three out of five. If you find this at a used bookstore, perhaps you should pick this up, but I would suggest visiting their website first, if you plan on reading this book at all. You will get far more information there.

[Donald Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. There are about eighty American History topics covered. The selection of topics is very wide and all interesting pieces of how this country got to this place. The book is a collection of paraphrased interviews of authors. You get a good thumb nail view of all of the books. There is a wealth of information, macro and micro, on all of the topics. It was fun, interesting and long. Because it is history it is not dated but it does not cover recent events after late 2001.

[Red Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the historical essays here, from Ambrose claiming that D-Day was the pivot of the 20th century (fail and it is either the Germans or the Russians), of McNamara claiming that Rusk believed until the end that we should have been in Vietnam, or quoting T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

[Michael]

If you want an overview of the books discussed on CSPAN's Booknotes (arranged to follow the chronology of American history), you'll likely be delighted with this book.

If you're looking for an overview of American history, told through book discussions (as I was), you'll likely be disappointed. As history, the selections here are idiosyncratic, and the omissions are glaring. Caveat emptor

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Booknotes Stories From American History Leading Historians On The Events That Shaped Our Country (Hardcover)
by Brian Lamb

[Ann Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers of American History will appreciate this variety of interesting stories from 1776 until 2000 as told to Brian Lamb by leading historian authors during his C-SPAN series Booknotes.

[Dennis Tra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of pieces of interviews from various authors and others about people and events from pre-revolution to early 21st century
Many interesting stories

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved Brian Lamb’s style on C-Span. The short stories from history are fresh, vivid, and probably ones you have not heard before.

[Scott Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! I highly recommend it. New information was learned in each and every section!

[Jeff Ransel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have had this book sitting around for many years. I think it was actually better to read now, rather than when it first came out as it was very interesting to see how much has changed in 20 years. The book describes the writing process of around 100 non-fiction writers. So many were struggling at the time with converting from pen and paper or typewriter to computer. Also going back to think about how deliberate/thoughtful a process writing used to be, and how now any hack can throw up an article on the internet they took 5 minutes to write.

[Tim Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of about 80 C-SPAN interviews covers a wide range of historical American topics, from the Boston Tea Party up through 9/11. Because they are edited versions of television interviews, the chapters are at times stilted, and [editorial content in square brackets] appears in almost every paragraph. The authors range from never-heard-of-never-want-to, to those who were in the thick of the events they wrote about.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting book, though I thought it was filled with a lot of unnecessary details. Skipped certain chapters.

[Rose]

973 Lam

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit boring read as I recall. Some interesting stuff but not enough to make me like the book.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awesome, well written, factual, and to the point history book. It is serving me well as a great resource for teaching American history. I highly recommend this book to any history buff.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book to read when sick. Quick. We knew almost all of the stories though some details were new. It was nice to learn about other women and girls who helped with the war for Independence.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable book for history buffs. Lots of "snippets" from contemporary authors.

[Phana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A behind the scenes look at what historians really think of their subjects. Good chapter on income tax... legislate a max limit? Nah, it could never go over 10%!

[John Bohnert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish we could do half stars. I would give this book 2.5 stars.

[Stephie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of interviews done by Brian Lamb for the C-SPAN show “Booknotes”. This is a program that interviews nonfiction authors about one of their recently released books. As the subtitle states these are from the history genre.

Some of the chapters I found to be particularly interesting were: Hamilton-Burr Duel where the author painted Burr in better colors than Hamilton; Differing Perspectives on Lincoln where one of the three authors presents evidence that Lincoln was a racist; Scopes “Monkey” Trial where according to the author Scopes was approach to become a test case for the ACLU; Unlikely Kennedy-Nixon Friendship where the author shows that Kennedy and Nixon became friends after both were elected to the United States House of Representatives; New York Times Co. v. Sullivan where the author tells how the {first amendment} free speech clause was successfully used in a libel case; and Ralph Nader on the 2000 Election where the Nader (one of two authors for the chapter) explains why he thinks he did not cause Gore to lose the election.

I felt that Lamb did an excellent job of giving a narrative presentation of the interviews he conducted with the authors. Other than that the quality of the content was directly related to the authors interviewed. Overall, I felt the book was very good, but being honest, I cannot say I like every single chapter.

I would recommend the book to anyone interested in American history. While you might have to pick and choose, if that is your style of reading, you should find plenty of good history presentations.