A New History of Kentucky

Rating:
Summary: Informative but very dry
Review: Focusing primarily on the intricacies of political history with occasional forays into the realm of socioeconomics, this book is notably dry. Because it covers several centuries in one not especially long volume, it doesn't seem to have been possible for the authors to describe any one topic in enough detail to really draw the reader in. The emphasis is almost completely on small details of elections and campaigns. The history of women and minorities is slotted in here and there, though this reader found it interesting that the authors feel the need to make a statement about the immorality of slavery while not feeling obliged to comment on the forcible taking of land from Native Americans. I would have liked to have seen a chapter on the natural environments and topography of the state so as to understand the ecosystems in which people have lived, but ecological history doesn't seem to have been an interest of the authors'. Overall, this is useful as an introductory volume but is really not what I'd call exciting or engaging. Perhaps the book's greatest fault is its dearth of useful maps. There's no good relief map and the maps overall are scanty and simplistic.

Rating:
Summary: Shocked and dismayed
Review: I was excited to read a new history of Kentucky, but I was VERY disappointed with the efforts of Harrison/Klotter. While the two historians are well-known and well-respected, they did an unfortunate job in telling the history of Kentucky. They have done what any good historian will not do, judged the past by the present, in assuming that Kentucky, in the past, was comparable to Kentucky today. It saddens me to think that the children of Kentucky will grow up reading this book, and one that I fear robs them of their history and heritage. The book does nothing for Kentucky!

Rating:
Summary: The Wanderer
Review: Spohie a thirteen-year-old girl goes on a sailing trip all summer. Her adoption-mother is worried sick about her while she is gone. She goes with her two adoptive cousins and her three adoptive uncles. They are sailing from America to Ireland to get to her grandpa Bompie's house. They make it to Bompie's house and Bompie tells them his stories from when he was a child.

On a scale from 1-10 I would give this book a 7 because it is about her life. It is a very good book. It has good details and strong words. This book has intresting characters and good settings that a lot of books don't have. I would recommend this book for kids the ages 8-12 years of age.