by Ralph Ellison

Reviewed by Phil Nicolosi

As history teachers, we encourage students to consult a wide variety of sources in order to discern fact from fiction and to examine differing historical perspectives. The astute history student might question whether literature is a valid historical source. One answer to such a question is that literature provides critical insight into history. A novel’s story line allows students to develop empathy for characters with different perspectives and material circumstances. Using fiction in history class can provide context and engage students on a personal level in a way that traditional textbooks cannot. Having students analyze a novel as they would a primary source document– Asking questions about the author, major events occurring around the time the novel was written, and the book’s intended audience will surely give students a new outlook on the natural relationship between history and literature and can be a useful classroom endeavor.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is an excellent example of a piece of literature that can enrich a history classroom discussion. Published in the early 1950s, Ellison sets his story in the 1930s and takes his character on a journey from the South to Harlem.

Combining biting social commentary with keen political insight, Invisible Man underscores the importance of literature in history. Students can use their understanding of historical events, such as the Great Migration and the Great Depression, and the role of individuals in history to better understand the motivations of Ellison’s nameless narrator and other characters. Conversely, a close reading of the story enables students to personalize the historical significance of African Americans’ status in 1930s America. In an introduction written thirty years after the novel’s original publication, Ellison reveals how Invisible Man came to be - a history lesson in itself. What makes Ellison’s introduction extraordinarily valuable to students is that it is a personally reflective piece. It is a subjective rather than an objective analysis, with Ellison, who was a college student in the 1930s in the south and later moved to Harlem, revealing the autobiographical origins of his novel.

Ellison praises literature’s function as a game of “as if,” which he claims can be a voice for effecting social change. We frequently caution our students to avoid that game when dealing with historical documents. However, using fiction can give students a clearer understanding of our societal ideals (liberty, democracy, and equality) highlighted in historical documents like the Gettysburg Address or the Declaration of Independence.

Invisible Man deals directly and powerfully with the issues of race relations and civil rights and the student is introduced to a variety of black experiences from the central character’s response to the music of Louis Armstrong to his negotiation of the Jim Crow laws of the Southern states. Ellison gives due diligence to inter- and intra-racial tensions in his comparison between educated and uneducated whites and blacks, and in his account of conflicts in both rural and urban life in the 1930s. While Ellison acknowledges that the characters are fictitious, many of the people and events represent an amalgam of real personalities and events.

Invisible Man offers a number of interesting classroom activities. Students could read the speech by the Reverend Barbee and compare it to a speech by Booker T. Washington. Or, students could be asked to analyze the speeches and actions of Ras the Exhorter and compare them to the writing and actions of Marcus Garvey. Students could also be asked to read essays or speeches by W.E.B. Du Bois in order to gain a richer understanding of the various race-based philosophies prevalent at the time the novel takes place.

A comparison of the race riot at the end of the book and the actual Harlem riot of 1943 demonstrates the way that literature can dramatize and amplify real life events. As an extension activity, students could be asked to research the Newark or Watts riots and identifying causal factors similar to the riot created by Ellison’s imagination and the historical riot of 1943. Because Ellison’s portrayal of the “Brotherhood” is based upon the American Communist Party, students could be asked to examine how the Party recruited and used black intellectuals as natural allies to further their cause. Relating their findings to the character’s experience in the story or comparing sources on racial attitudes in the north and south could provide students an opportunity to judge if Ellison’s portrayals are exaggerated drama or hidden social commentary.

While literature cannot replace traditional sources used in history classrooms, it certainly can provide a window into the author’s mind and historical era. Novels can be analyzed the same way we analyze our documents. Just as many history teachers use Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to teach the Antebellum Period, good literature can be used to accentuate any topic in our curriculum. Simply put, history dictates literature, and literature dictates history. Ellison’s work certainly highlights this point.

Review of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks, by Horatio Alger

Reviewed by Bruce Lesh

Many characteristics describe adolescent students, but none as prominent as change. Physically, emotionally, and intellectually middle and high school students are constantly transforming. Although these transitions often present challenges for the classroom teacher, they also bestow a tremendous opportunity to connect students to one of the most dynamic forces in history: change. In many instances, literature—often seen as the exclusive purview of English teachers—can facilitate students’ investigation into a personality, time period, or idea and strengthen their understanding of the forces transforming the landscape of the past. Two books, one fiction, another non-fiction, allow students to investigate a time period in history through the lens of dynamic characters undergoing personal transitions, thus connecting the transforming teenager to the past.

Any of the more than 100 novels written by Horatio Alger provide insight into the power of change as an historical force. On such choice is Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks. Through the eyes of a young bootblack, students are quickly drawn into turn of the twentieth century industrial and urbanized New York City. Dick, a poor, uneducated, down-on-his-luck orphan, traverses the social and economic difficulties of the emerging American metropolis. The temptations of gambling, stealing, drinking, and intemperate language (all issues confronted by teenagers today) are placed in the context of the time period. In addition, the novel provides some texture for the political, economic, and social realities of the newly industrial America. Issues such as child labor, immigration, the Protestant work ethic, urbanization, industrialization, and even the accuracy of the “The Gilded Age” as a title for the time period can be explored through the fictional adventures of the novel’s hero.

Set almost one hundred years after the travails of Ragged Dick, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, presents students with another opportunity to explore the transformation of one of the most dynamic figures of the rights revolutions of the mid-twentieth century. The protagonist’s transition from Malcolm Little, to Detroit Red, and from Malcolm X to el-Haijj Malik el-Shabazz allows students to witness the impact of the intersection of race and class in post-World War Two America. The tangible impact of racism, both de jure and de facto, move from the sometime generalized classroom examples to the flesh and bones of Malcolm X.

Both books are extremely readable and lend themselves to division into sections for more reluctant readers. After reading the respective portions of either book, students can create timelines of the beliefs, actions, accomplishments, and challenges faced by both characters during each phase of their life. These timelines can be created on butcher block paper, overhead sheets, or notebook paper. Deeper examination of these historical sources can be achieved by analyzing the degree to which both sources reflect the realities of the past. Dick’s transformation from street urchin to respectability allows students to investigate the concepts of class and social mobility, and can be contrasted with the lives of Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller. Utilizing statistics on social mobility and job distribution changes, elected conclusions drown from Robert Lynd’s Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, Stephan Ternstrom’s Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City, or Herbert Gutman’s article “The Reality of the Rags-to-Riches Myth: The Case of the Paterson, New Jersey, Locomotive, Iron and Machinery Manufacturers” students can compare the rise of Ragged Dick to the historical realities of the time period. In contrast, the life of Malcolm X, allows students to draw conclusions about the manner in which he has been depicted by Hollywood, how he should be remembered historically, and the relationship between the Black Power Movement and the efforts of the non-violent element of the Civil Rights Movement as exemplified by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Novels, often ignored because of their length, placement in the English/Language Arts curricula, or teacher unfamiliarity, are outstanding sources for historical investigations. By facilitating not simply reading, but evaluation of the book as an historical source, students are pushed to expand their knowledge of a particular event, person, idea, or time period, and to broaden their utilization of historical thinking skills. Both Ragged Dick and the Autobiography of Malcolm X invite students’ interest and provide the flexibility necessary in order to utilize a source with a variety of students.

In many instances, student interest in a topic can be captured with the use of an interesting historical anecdote. These small stories provide a window on a topic or help to reinforce an important point in classroom instruction. Consider the story Jeffrey Rosen conveys in his chapter on Hugo Black and William O. Douglas. In the aftermath of the milestone Brown decision, the Alabama state legislature passed a resolution stating that native son, former member of the Ku Klux, Klan, and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, could not be buried in Alabama soil. For the next ten years, Black’s visits to Alabama required him to don a bullet proof vest provided by the United States Secret Service. The personal price paid by Black for siding with the dismantling of segregation paints an important picture of the difficulties inherent to making political decisions. This vignette, like many offered in Jeffrey Rosen’s The Supreme Court—a companion book for the Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) series of the same name—humanizes the court’s members and its decisions. The organization of the text allows readers insight into major turning points in the evolution of both the court as an institution and in its impact on Reconstruction, industrialization, the New Deal, civil rights, and the right to privacy.

The central organizing theme of the book is Rosen’s exploration of “judicial temperament,” which he defines as the “personality, character, upbringing and education, formative career experiences, work habits…”, of the justices. Through the comparison of seven justices, and one President (Thomas Jefferson), Rosen posits the argument that true measure of the court’s efficacy is the manner in which temperament guides the decisions emanating from the institution. Short biographical sketches start each chapter followed by the interactions between two justices who the author identifies as bringing different temperaments to the court. Comparisons of John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, and William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia serve as the chapters of the book. Central to Rosen’s investigation is the degree to which ideological extremes are avoided and pragmatism is embraced. His descriptions of Chief Justice John Marshall, in comparison to President Thomas Jefferson encapsulate the dichotomy that drives the book’s organization. In Rosen’s estimation, it was Marshall’s “incrementalism, accommodation, practicality, philosophical moderation” that allowed him to be successful unlike Jefferson who, according to Rosen, lacked all the above mentioned skills. Later, Rosen argues that the quest for the spotlight harbored by justices William O. Douglas and Antonin Scalia also reflected a lack of the appropriate temperament. Rosen holds that William Rehnquist, on the other hand, was in possession of the correct judicial temperament because “Rehnquist had a knack for getting along with his ideological opponents,” while “Scalia managed to alienate even his ideological sympathizers.” In many instances, temperament, by Rosen’s analysis, seems to be a substitute for a reverence for the court over personal ideology or ambition. Nevertheless, the stories told in The Supreme Court are fertile ground for teachers of the court and its decisions.

Students could use the chapter organization of the book to prepare reports of the impact of the court on the Early National period, Reconstruction, industrialization, the New Deal, the Civil Rights movement, and the battle over privacy. Reports could focus not only on key decisions, but the interplay of the justices during these key moments in American History. The quick depictions of the backgrounds, personalities, and key decisions of seven Supreme Court justices found in Jeffrey Rosen’s The Supreme Court, will refresh teacher’s knowledge of the court and provide many of the anecdotes that can generate deeper student interest in a topic.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court takes the reader inside the most enigmatic of our three branches of government. Author Jeffrey Toobin suggests that the Court “by design keeps its operations largely secret from the outside world,” but there are opportunities to peek into the “window of its soul.” High school government and history teachers will certainly find this bestseller useful for both background knowledge and anecdotes, but mostly to teach students about the court’s most critical processes — how justices are nominated, how politics plays a role in a body that’s supposed to be apolitical, and how backgrounds and personalities affect opinions rendered. The Nine is a well-organized and engaging book, and teachers will have little trouble finding useful classroom material for lesson plans.

Toobin puts a human face on a branch of government that still prohibits cameras in the chambers and whose members can still attend a NASCAR event in near anonymity (yes, one of the justices attends the races). Reading about the differences in Warren Burger’s and William Rehnquist’s leadership style, how Bill Clinton settled for his seventh choice in Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or how Clarence Thomas dealt (and still deals) with his confirmation hearing, students will realize there is more to the Supreme Court than just “interpreting the law.”

The Nine will prove versatile in the classroom. For a US Government class, this book is ideal. Not only does it provide a pointed summary of the Supreme Court and its procedures, but it covers topics such as the nominations of Justices, the politics of various issues and the subsequent decisions and rationales of the individual justices. A teacher could assign a particular justice to a small group and have the group read the sections on the justice’s nomination, his or her political leanings, and a key case that defined that particular justice. Alternatively, teachers could assign projects based on notable court cases, with each chapter highlighting an issue or case and a particular justice who was instrumental in the outcome. One group could read and report on how Sandra Day O’Conner – a Goldwater conservative – found herself voting against overturning Roe v. Wade or how Stephen Breyer, in his first few years on the court, wrote a classic dissent defending his interpretation of the commerce clause. Students could then report their findings in an essay or an oral presentation to the class using evidence from The Nine as well as evidence from the actual opinions found on websites such as the OYEZ Project (a comprehensive site on the Supreme Court). Certainly a class analysis of the Bush v. Gore chapters can be used to teach the controversy in the 2000 election, but it can also be used to examine the rift that decision created within the Court.

Although Toobin focuses on the Rehnquist Court, this book has great value for a US History class. Toobin provides a nice overview of major issues taken up by the court, each within the context of the time. He discusses the justices as products of their background, and this helps explain each of their judicial philosophies. Students in a history class can also gain a much fuller understanding of what it means to “interpret the law.” Students could easily be assigned an issue and look at how each justice interpreted that particular issue or why individuals brought the case to court as well as how the interpretation of our rights changes over time. An excellent example for this type of analysis would be the chapter entitled “What Shall be Orthodox,” which deals with both speech and religion, and various interpretations of these two cherished rights.

While Toobin’s research and writing style make the book accessible to advanced students’ reading abilities and comprehension, judicious selections of topics may be necessary. The extensive discussion of the abortion issue and the brief chapter on the Court’s dealing with homosexuality may be beyond what some districts and schools allow. However, the numerous other topics such as the Clinton impeachment, the Court’s view of federalism, and the recent appointments of Samuel Alito and John Roberts will provide substantial material to supplement any desired learning objectives.

Focusing on the longest period without a change in the Court’s nine-justice history, Toobin’s work can be a true asset to any classroom teacher. From his individual justice profiles and the analysis of their decisions to his summary and explanation of the context of issues such as the War on Terror cases and The University of Michigan’s admissions policy, teachers will certainly not find themselves at a loss for lesson plan ideas, anecdotes and information. Coupled with other resources and websites such as the OYEZ Project, the once mysterious world of the Supreme Court becomes less of an enigma and more human.

In such a visual age, sacrifices made during war are often reduced to images of limbless soldiers, exploding body parts, or blind charges into enemy lines. Films such as Wind Talkers, Thin Red Line, Pearl Harbor, and Saving Private Ryan–although useful classroom tools for examining memory, image, and interpretation—visually paint what is often told more comprehensively in text. E.B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa provides a ground-level view of the war in the Pacific and does so in a manner that will make a long-lasting impression on students, generate classroom discussion, and challenge students to reconsider the racial nature of the Pacific War.

Written as a memoir for his family, E.B. Sledge’s gripping tale of his time in the United States Marines was composed from notes written during the war, collected in his copy of the Old Testament, and hidden in a waterproof bag. Organized into two sections, the book is ready-made for classroom use. Part one examines Sledge’s travels from civilian life to the Marine Corps and eventually to the invasion of Pelieu. The second part finds the First Marine Division invading Okinawa. Both sections move the reader quickly through the battles and allow students to gain insight into the motivations of the soldiers. Sledge’s ability to place the reader in the maelstrom of war helps students understand the true emotional, physical, and psychological costs of war.

If time constraints, curricular standards, or students’ reading abilities make lengthy reading difficult, the book is ripe for excerpts that could be organized into categories such as soldiers’ view of the enemy, American battlefield tactics/strategies, conditions particular to the War in the Pacific, and Japanese strategies and methods. These excerpts allow students to develop a picture of the Pacific War from the soldiers’ point-of-view and then use this picture to reconstruct a more expansive history of the war. In addition to its utility as a unique source on the Pacific War, sections of the With the Old Breed could be compared with the documentary treatment of the Pacific War found in the PBS’s The American Experience Installment, Victory in the Pacific, or with Elizabeth Norman’s We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Battan by the Japanese. Each source provides both points of comparison and contrast with the image depicted in Sledge’s reminiscence. In addition, by utilizing a local veteran’s organization, teachers could facilitate a visit by a veteran of the Pacific War to compare and contrast their experience to that described by Sledge.

For teachers, the greatest shortcoming of Sledge’s memoir is its failure to place the events depicted into the larger political and military struggle of the time period. Students, even reluctant readers, will be drawn into the mind of the Marines fighting in the Pacific, but will need instructional guidance to place Sledge’s narrative into the broader political, military, and diplomatic contours of the war. In addition, when considering adopting the text as part of a United States history course, teachers should be aware that With the Old Breed contains both graphic language and disturbing depictions of war, and brutality. The book may require consideration of parental concerns, district policies, and the age appropriateness of the material being utilized. Despite concerns over the big picture coverage proved by the book and the necessity for considerations about content, the book provides a well written and thought provoking analysis of the battle for the Pacific and will be remembered by your students when they have long forgotten island-hopping, Iwo Jima, and other aspects of the war.

Freedom from Fear: The American People in World War Two, Volume 2 examines the political, military, diplomatic, economic, and social changes related to the United States’ role in the Second World War. Kennedy is not only talented at synthesizing recent scholarship; he is also a gifted writer. A compelling narrative drives the book and makes it an enjoyable read for educators. Teachers new to United States History, or those looking to breathe life into tried and true approaches, would both be well served by reading Kennedy’s book.

Kennedy skillfully weaves the intricacies of diplomacy and the sacrifices on the battlefield without ever losing sight of the depth of the historical actors involved. He is equally adept at providing the telling statistic about economic mobilization while simultaneously focusing on the personal sacrifices demanded by the war. Teachers should note that this is not a full telling of the Second World War—the internal policies of many of America’s allies and enemies are left out—but this was not Kennedy’s intention, and his coverage of the American role is substantial.

The chapters “The War of the Machines” and “The Cauldron of the Home Front” are tremendously useful for teachers looking to restructure their approach to the home front during World War II. Replete with stunning statistics and insightful anecdotes, both chapters provide the deep content that can crystallize for students the enormity of the mobilization of war and its attendant impact on the outcome. Of interesting note, is Kennedy’s treatment of the Manhattan Project in the context of the American War machine’s growth and development. Traditionally this element of mobilization and technological growth is left in the paragraph prior to the dropping of the bomb. By placing the decisions related to the development of an atomic bomb in the context of the other efforts to prepare the United States armed forces, students are able to appreciate the manner in which the bomb was conceived, developed, and delivered for use. Including it in the discussion of American mobilization makes far better sense and is an important consideration when organizing content for a unit on World War Two.

“The Cauldron of the Home Front” addresses the impact that a war to end fascism had on relations between the races in the United States. Deftly moving from the rationale and implications of Executive Order 9066, to the growing resistance to Jim Crow and the nascent Civil Rights movement, and finally to the expansion of opportunities for women that the war fostered, Kennedy crafts a sweeping overview of how a foreign war facilitated changes in traditional domestic mores. The chapter concludes with a sobering analysis of the relationship between American political decision makers and the Holocaust. Kennedy clearly examines the imbedded anti-Semitism within the United States government, the timing of American awareness of the scale of devastation taking place in German occupied Europe, and the multi-faceted reasons for American inaction. This section of the chapter is ripe for use in the classroom. Students could read Kennedy’s interpretation of America and the Holocaust, compare it with the primary source quotes provided at the PBS’s American Experience segment America and the Holocaust website, and begin a deep exploration of this important—but often untaught, portion of American History. In these two chapters alone, Kennedy’s book provides teachers with an opportunity to refresh and/or deepen their knowledge of the Second World War and simultaneously revisit the stories they convey and the organization of their instructional program.

Although dividing the text into two volumes reduces the intimidation factor generated by the 800 page original, the book is still inconsistent with the reading and motivational abilities of most high school students. It is an exceptionally well-written book, and portions would be useful background reading for Advanced Placement students. Other segments could be used to supplement often scarcely told stories found in textbooks, but in its entirety, it will challenge most high school students. For educators though, Kennedy’s single volume on World War Two, and his entire book on the Depression and War, should be required reading. The book provides an opportunity to refine their understanding of this critical time period, provides useful material for classroom use, and promotes consideration over how curriculum could be ordered to best encourage student understanding of this pivotal time period.

by Douglas Brinkley
Reviewed by Phil Nicolosi

In The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, historian Douglas Brinkley masterfully links the events of June 6, 1944 to Reagan’s famous speeches commemorating the fortieth anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 1984. Brinkley claims that Reagan’s speeches started the renewed interest in the World War II’s “greatest generation,” culminating in numerous books, films, documentaries, and memorials since then. As history teachers, we often find ourselves trying to justify to students why history is important and why we should learn about and remember certain people and events. Brinkley’s book provides us a resource to face those classroom challenges.

Brinkley tells the gripping story of James Earl Rudder’s 2nd Army Ranger Battalion who climbed the jagged cliff at Pointe du Hoc in the face of Nazi fire to help liberate Europe. He then links that moment in time with events four decades later when Reagan delivered what many consider to be his finest speech to the “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” at that very site. What makes this book outstanding for classroom use is the variety of ways teachers can employ it to show students that history matters, that people are products of their time, and that events of years ago still directly affect us today.

The book is essentially written as two stories. For the 2nd Ranger Battalion story, Brinkley uses available primary sources such as accounts of their training and mission, their photos, and their personal letters, placing the reader at the scene in 1944. Students will be drawn to the story; the outcome may be certain, but the drama remains. The second part of the book focuses on events and people who influenced Reagan in his younger days in 1944 and on the construction of his famous speeches in 1984. This story, too, is riveting. From Reagan’s background and his admiration for FDR, to speechwriter Peggy Noonan’s word choices, Brinkley captures almost every emotion that goes into commemorating an event.

A classroom teacher will find this book a genuine asset not only in teaching the content of the 1940’s and 1980’s, but also in helping students to see how a nation “remembers” its history. Brinkley includes the Pointe Du Hoc speech in the Appendix, so students can read the account of the events in the book, compare Brinkley’s work as an historian to the speech itself, and discover how a professional historian or a President retells “memories.” It may also be beneficial for students to select “soundbites” from the speech and justify why their selections proved so memorable. Teachers will find the photos and the full text of letters useful for capturing the emotional component of war from those who experienced both the war and the remembrance. For instance, the daughter of a D-Day veteran who visited France in 1984 wrote one particular letter, which inspired Reagan. She wanted to see what her father, who died a few years earlier, had always talked about. The full text of this letter is included in the book. It is the type of source selection that gives Brinkley’s text such power. Brinkley understands the importance of such a source, but teachers will also see its usefulness because it allows students to see the personal side of history and that common people can do uncommon things.

Just as Trumbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence helped capture the eighteenth century’s “greatest generation” approximately forty years after the original event, Brinkley’s work provides us with a highly readable, primary source-filled account of events forty years apart. When Ronald Reagan referred to D-Day in his Farewell Address, he warned that we, as a nation, cannot forget our past. “We won’t know who we are,” he declared, for a loss of an American memory “could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit.” High school history teachers will find this book useful in making exactly this point to their students.

Daddy’s Gone to War: The Second World War in the Lives of America’s Children, a uniquely and thoroughly researched book by William M. Tuttle Jr., covers a broad spectrum of the trials and challenges on the home front during World War II. From the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the soldiers returning home after the war, Tuttle tells the story of the home front through the eyes of those who experienced, and vividly remember, the sights, the smells, and the strong emotions that accompanied it. What makes Daddy’s Gone to War different than other books on the home front is Tuttle’s very original approach of focusing on how children were affected. By gathering over 2,500 recent letters from adults all over America who were children during World War II, Tuttle effectively uses other’s memories of a tumultuous time in US History to capture the essence of the long lasting impression this war had on America’s children.

Tuttle clearly acknowledges that he could not rely on the letters alone to write the book. In the preface, he admits that the letters were invaluable for uncovering the anonymity that hides regular people from view. He supplements these letters with the big-picture historical dimension as well as the insights derived from the other social sciences, particularly psychology. Tuttle incorporates his experiences studying psychology into his work as an historian and thus was able to take those memories and apply current psychological research to explain why and what people remember. He states that what is important is not only what happens in a child’s life, but when (at what age) the event occurs. Distinct to his writing is how each chapter not only covers home front challenges, but he also explains how these issues affected children of all ages – from toddler through school age.

Each chapter comes alive with the voices from those who experienced the events. For example, one of the chapters challenges the traditional notion that there was “one” America during the war. Tuttle examines how Americans were clearly divided by race, religion, class, gender, ethnicity, and sometimes even within individual households. Tuttle adds the recollections of so many people from all over the country who remember, but perhaps didn’t understand at the time, the often unfair treatments of Americans by society and the government.

A very dense and sometimes statistics-laced read, high school students will find it very challenging and probably, at times, a bit dry. There are also sections of certain chapters where Tuttle vividly describes the racist, anti-Semitic, anti-German, anti-Japanese and anti-Italian language and propaganda. Even though history can and should make us uncomfortable at times, that language and those topics should be approached carefully in a classroom setting as those references could easily trigger sensitivities.

A quick glance at the table of contents and one will see the topics clearly outlined. Carefully excerpted, these chapters could be of great value for anecdotes and statistics to enhance classroom lecture. A classroom teacher can use many examples from the chapters to explain the very conflicts and issues, which confronted American children of nearly every race, religion, ethnicity and social class. It may even be of greater value for the teacher to use parts of each chapter to demonstrate how the war affected the everyday life of school aged students around the same age of those we teach.

In addition, a teacher will surely want to use parts of the preface where Tuttle outlines his methodology and describes his use of recent letters from World War II children, who are now adults. It will surely open class discussion on the importance of historical memory and the reliability of accounts recalled many years later. His methodology will certainly demonstrate that traumatic events and childhood memories will stick with a person for many generations, often waiting to be recounted and retold. Daddy’s Gone to War gives the reader the chance to reflect on the uniqueness of history as a discipline, yet shows how other social sciences can be used to enliven and enrich the past. As Tuttle states, “the historian’s activity is an artistic one” and an historian’s explanation is one that satisfies us because it brings the variety of human experiences to life.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning book highlights the human side of the founders by removing the title “fathers” and replacing it with “brothers” making this eminent group of men more accessible to the reader. It is an excellent book for teachers who are looking for an angle on the Founders which presents them as real-life, human characters during an extraordinary time period. It is also a very readable book for advanced high school students.

History teachers often struggle to get students to read good historical writing: works that are concise and compelling, that demonstrate the sometimes arduous work of a historian, and that employ sound historiography, and still find time to teach sufficient content. This book allows teachers to accomplish all of the aforementioned, and puts a human face on the oft-deified founders. Ellis also allows students to see the historian’s interpretation and use of numerous sources. From works by other historians like Gordon Wood and Gary Nash, to primary sources like letters and petitions from the Founders themselves, Ellis demonstrates that the historian’s craft of constantly reinterpreting the past is not lost in writing a book for a popular audience. As teachers and students of history, reading Founding Brothers allows us to sufficiently cover the content of several topics found in the standard high school history curriculum.

The book’s opening chapter details the famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. Ellis dramatic style will grab students’ attention, allowing readers to investigate the event like an episode of CSI. Ellis traces the roots of the conflict with an even hand and allows students to see that even with a wealth of documentary evidence, historians can never know exactly what happened during the actual event, but must rely on available sources to make an educated guess. Ellis frequently reminds us that our knowledge can be limited by what sources previous generations leave us. Ellis presents his reader with accounts from both the Burr and Hamilton camps and allows the readers to draw conclusions on what actually occurred on that July day.

Particularly useful for the classroom is a chapter called “The Silence.” In it, Ellis discusses the first Congress’s debate over ending the slave trade and the practice of slavery in the United States. Because episodes like this debate are not covered in traditional textbooks, this chapter allows students to see that the Founders were not infallible when it came to dealing with an institution so deeply rooted in America’s social and economic life. Ellis’s account helps dispel the myth that the United States, as historian Carol Berkin notes, “began perfect and continually got better.”

Founding Brothers is divided into six chapters with each chapter providing a behind the scenes look at a major topic. Topics range from Jefferson’s alleged “dinner party” bargain, by which support for Hamilton’s financial plan was given in exchange for the location of the national capital near Virginia, to a discussion of the complicated feud and friendship of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Each chapter is approximately forty pages in length, which allows the teacher to assign some guided weekly reading assignments. The structure of the book lets the teacher teach the book in its entirely or select chapters of interest and teach them independently. Either way, Ellis’s book will help students come to appreciate the complexity of history, as well as the complex character of the founders themselves.

This book is an in-depth, scholarly study of the role the people played in interpreting the Constitution and the evolution and understanding of judicial review. It is an excellent book for teacher background information and anecdotes. It would be extremely challenging for students, although short excerpts of text and sources could be used.

In this book, Kramer places the people and the courts at the center of his historical narrative, arguing that constitutional interpretation never solely rested with judges and the courts. It was, and has always been, for the “people themselves” to interpret. Kramer, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan and current Dean of Stanford Law School, debunks numerous myths about the history of judicial review. Kramer traces the evolution of judicial review and explains in great detail how the people have always possessed, and still possess, the power and control over what the Constitution means.Most notably, Kramer explains, through many historical examples, how the “people” in the colonies had extensive control over constitutional interpretation, legal decisions and the courts. By voting, writing petitions, and frequent mob action, the people’s voice was clear. His analysis of how events like the Stamp Act protests and the Boston Tea Party had “legal” backing in the colonists’ minds provide great anecdotes for classroom lectures and can give students a nuanced understanding of the background to the Revolution. Using such anecdotes in classroom lecture and as background to analyzing documents from events like the Stamp Act protests allows students to see that the early rebels, while certainly pushing the limits of legality, were not necessarily scofflaws.

Incorporating the in-text primary source excerpts into lesson plans can challenge the notion that there has always been acceptance of the court’s role as final arbiter. Excerpts from both the Federalists and Antifederalists make the ratification debate and the concerns over the courts more vivid to students. Federalist and Republican writings on the court’s role can buttress a student’s understanding of the Adams and Jefferson administrations. These documents can also be used to demonstrate why the “midnight appointments” were so controversial and “personally unkind” to Jefferson. While students and teachers may find such primary sources overwhelming, the excerpts provided in this book capture the essence of the arguments and can easily understood and examined by students. Having students read and analyze such excerpts individually or in small groups can enhance the notion that good history is complicated by many underlying causes. Jefferson’s gripe against the appointments was not over his concern for John Adams’ lack of sleep that evening or William Marbury’s position, but which principles – Federalist or Republican – would triumph during that period.

Viewed in the light of Kramer’s argument that the people, not the courts have final say making law, Marbury v. Madison, a mundane case with a complicated decision, takes on a new life. As the myth of John Marshall spontaneously creating judicial review fades, the reader finds Kramer’s analysis both illuminating and inspiring. It reminds us to teach our students that the Constitution has always been, and still is, “the people’s document.”