The Story of Arlington National Cemetery

by R. Conrad Stein

Book Overview

Dramatic and defining moments in American history come vividly the life in the Cornerstones of Freedom series. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0516046101
• ISBN13: 9780516046105
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Children's Press(CT)
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Age Range: 8 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 6

Customer Reviews

Our nation's cemetery

I am totally surprised to find such a well-written, thoughtful series of books still in publication. As a children's librarian in the process of weeding (discarding) old, outdated books, I found a multi-book set of the Cornerstones of Freedom Series sitting right there in the 973 section (American History). After flipping through several volumes, I chose "The Story of Arlington National Cemetery" as the one to review. R. Conrad Stein has the narrative form perfected in the telling of the Arlington story. He begins with an elderly man visiting the cemetery. As the man walks through, he stops here and visits his memories of the person buried and the event of war concerning their mutual experience. This story-telling technique is both smooth and educational. The old man relates the history of Arlington House and its direct connection to the establishment of the national cemetery at the conclusion of the Civil War. Before that, the house was directly connected with George Washington then later Robert E. Lee. John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy are buried side by side, one with an eternal flame, and both overlooking Washington, D.C. The old man remembers Pierre L'Enfant, the architect who planned the city. As the old man walks through the cemetery, he recalls stories of various people whose graves he passes: Abner Doubleday, founder of baseball; Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee, astronauts, who died in a spacecraft explosion; Oliver Wendell Holmes, a Supreme Court Justice and poet; Audie Murphy, the most decorated war hero of World War II... Then the old man reaches the most important tomb in the entire cemetery: that of the Unknown Soldier who represents all unknown soldiers who die serving their country. He ponders this significance. It's been a long day and the old man is ready to go home. This one volume in the series gives a sense of the breadth and depth in just 32 pages, with each book highlighting a different topic of American history. Every elementary library should have a complete set of these books and every home library should have a few in the series just because. To find other titles in the series, click on Books in the drop-down menu at the top of the page, then type Cornerstones of Freedom series in the Search bar and click Go.