History of My Own Times (Documents in American Social History)

Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly candid look at early American life.
Review: "History of My Own Times" explodes the notion we have genteel craftsmen in the early republic working with thrift, sobriety and industry to build the nation. The autobiography of Bill Otter, an Englishmen in early America, this book shows a far darker side of the working class than we may have believed. Otter is a cheat, bully, and bigot, dedicated as much to playing tricks on people as he is to working. HIs story is told in his own words and the jarring difference between the image of the "good guy" he tries to project and the reality of the rough and tumble brawler he really was is a revelation. Richard Stott, the editor, takes Otter's story and deftly ties it into relatively unknown facet of our social history. This is one of the best books on early American life I've read in many years.