History's Locomotives: Revolutions and the Making of the Modern WorldYale University Press, 1. jaan 2006 - 384 pages This engaging book reveals Benjamin Franklin's human side, his tastes and habits, his enthusiasms, and his devotion to democracy and the people of the United States. Three hundred years after his birth, we may remember Franklin's famous autobiography, or his status as framer of the Declaration of Independence, or perhaps his sage advice on diligence and thrift. But historian Edmund Morgan invites us to meet the man himself, an ordinary, sociable, good-natured human being with boundless curiosity about the natural world and a vision of what America could be. Drawing on life-long research in the vast Franklin archives, Morgan assembles lesser-known writings that offer insights into this founding father's thinking. The book is organized around three major themes, each with an introduction. The first section includes journal excerpts and letters revealing Franklin's personal tastes and habits. The second is devoted to Franklin's inexhaustible intellectual energy and his scientific discoveries. The third chronicles his devotion to serving the people who became the United States, and to his democratic vision of their independent future. Franklin's humanity and genius have never seemed more real than in the pages of this appealing anthology. |
From inside the book
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Page 13
... mass-produce it). To be sure, present historiography now emphasizes that Europe accomplished so much only by pillaging and enslaving the other con- tinents. But pillage and slavery are the common practice of civilizations; and it was ...
... mass-produce it). To be sure, present historiography now emphasizes that Europe accomplished so much only by pillaging and enslaving the other con- tinents. But pillage and slavery are the common practice of civilizations; and it was ...
Page 25
... masses into resigned acceptance of their exploited state . Nor does culture fare much better at the hands of structural - functionalism : here religion is simply a " non - empirical belief system " providing " value - orientations " to ...
... masses into resigned acceptance of their exploited state . Nor does culture fare much better at the hands of structural - functionalism : here religion is simply a " non - empirical belief system " providing " value - orientations " to ...
Page 46
... Mass , it had the long - term effect of emphasizing the separation between the sacerdotal priesthood and the body of the faithful . Returning the cup to the laity thus meant narrowing that gap and democratizing the church . The ...
... Mass , it had the long - term effect of emphasizing the separation between the sacerdotal priesthood and the body of the faithful . Returning the cup to the laity thus meant narrowing that gap and democratizing the church . The ...
Page 47
... mass of the population . It is not that Czech peasants were particularly oppressed . Indeed , they were all free men , serfdom was unknown , and abundant evidence indicates that they were as prosperous as medieval conditions permitted ...
... mass of the population . It is not that Czech peasants were particularly oppressed . Indeed , they were all free men , serfdom was unknown , and abundant evidence indicates that they were as prosperous as medieval conditions permitted ...
Page 48
... mass movement in Prague in the wake of the defenestration was not wholly welcome to the noble and academic leaders of the Utraquists or to the city's patricians. Yet they also understood that it was only this mighty current of plebeian ...
... mass movement in Prague in the wake of the defenestration was not wholly welcome to the noble and academic leaders of the Utraquists or to the city's patricians. Yet they also understood that it was only this mighty current of plebeian ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
35 | |
Part II Classic Atlantic Revolutions | 131 |
Part III The Quest for Socialist Revolution | 213 |
Conclusion and Epilogue | 279 |
Whats in a Name? | 287 |
Appendix II High Social Science and Staseology | 302 |
Notes | 317 |
Index | 343 |
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