Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen

by David Colbert

Book Overview

Thomas Jefferson complains about haggling over the Declaration of Independence ... Jack London guides us through the rubble of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ... Langston Hughes visits the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679442243
• ISBN13: 9780679442240
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 599 Pages
• Weight: 2.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Get your history first-hand. A terrific book.

Reading this book was a treat. Reading first-hand accounts of incidents will give you a picture of how things really were. Notice the chapter on "A Mob Confronts A Stamp Collector". This made me feel like I was seeing exactly what happened. The book can be read from any chapter all of which are independent of one another. One caveat. Make sure you have a weekend to spare because once you get into the text it's goodbye everything else. Excellent history.

Eyewitness Gets Good and Keeps on Going!

I had the unique opportunity to meet Mr. Colbert while working at a TV show. Much like himself, the book is incredibly insiteful into many of the events that shaped this great land. As a New Yorker, I especially enjoyed the description of a late 19th century deli, you could taste the Corned beef!!! When you finish this book you will see a view of American history that the text books you used in school never tried to show. Only Mr. Colbert brings together the first-hand accounts of the Challenger disaster and Curt Flood's personal battles as well as the thoughts of a witness to President Lincoln slipping away after the shooting in Fords theater. I highly recomend this book to all Americans and I (like Charles Kuralt) have kept it and referenced it in many an undertaking. Keep up the good work David, and I made sure that the cameras were kind to you.

History from an eye-witness perspective

I had the unique opportunity to meet Mr. Colbert while working at a TV show. Much like himself, the book is incredibly insiteful into many of the events that shaped this great land. As a New Yorker, I especially enjoyed the description of a late 19th century deli, you could taste the Corned beef!!! When you finish this book you will see a view of American history that the text books you used in school never tried to show. Only Mr. Colbert brings together the first-hand accounts of the Challenger disaster and Curt Flood's personal battles as well as the thoughts of a witness to President Lincoln slipping away after the shooting in Fords theater. I highly recomend this book to all Americans and I (like Charles Kuralt) have kept it and referenced it in many an undertaking. Keep up the good work David, and I made sure that the cameras were kind to you.

Eyewitness is a rich, vivid slideshow of Amer. history

It's not often that a history book can genuinely draw its readers into the critical moment. "Eyewitness to America" masterfully achieves this formidable task by presenting memorable first person accounts of events as they were occuring. This vivid selection of chronicles successfully relates the perspective, immediacy and even passion which is inherent in every moment worth remembering but which is so often lacking in many history books. The accounts of minor historical events are as interesting and surprising as those for major events, which is most likely the result of thoughtful editing by David Colbert. This book is like a great slideshow of the last 500 years where no frame is redundant, boring or blurred. Whether your interest is casual, burning or somewhere in between, you will find this collection to be extremely worthwhile and enjoyable reading. "Eyewitness to America" should be a valued addition to any bookshelf. It is on mine.

Excellent - a great resource for students and history lovers

This book has something for everyone. From before America was America to the present day, history comes alive in the words of those who were there. This book preserves history so that when no one is around to say, "I was there," someone will be able to hold up Eyewitness to America and say, "These people were, and this is what happened."