1898 The Birth of the American Century (Paperback)
| Author: David Traxel |
| Format: | Paperback |
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Product Details:
| In this remarkable evocation of the American past, David Traxel chronicles the extraordinary events of 1898 -- a year without rival in United States history for its extravagant adventure and far-reaching significance. Traxel's account centers upon his vivid portrayal of America's first foray into international military affairs, the Spanish-American War. Spurred on by the yellow journalism of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the United States entered the war that garnered the nation Puerto Rico and the Philippines and initiated the ascension of a little-known assistant secretary of the navy, Theodore Roosevelt. But while the Rough Riders were capturing the nation's attention abroad, bloody battles were occurring within the nation's own borders. Coal workers and company guards fought in lllinois, while racial conflict led to bloodshed in North Carolina, and in Minnesota the last battle between Native Americans and the U.S. Army resulted in the defeat of government troops. Radical advances in technology led to less violent but equally important changes as the production of the first gasoline-powered car heralded a new era, and the first million-dollar advertising campaign (for Uneeda Biscuits) revealed the growing importance of marketing to a country in the midst of urbanization. An important contribution to the nation's cultural history, 1898 is a fascinating account of the definitive year that foretold the American Century. |
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From the Publisher:
From the sinking of the Maine, to Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, to the violent birth of the United Mine Workers, the author chronicles the year that thrust the United States onto the international stage while internally shaping an industrialized nation. |
A history of the United States in 1898. Traxel describes the United States at the end of the 19th century as a society poised on the brink of maturity, with a nascent empire, a booming economy, and a vast influx of immigrants.
Praise
"Traxel is a lucid, engaging writer with a sure sense of narrative movement, so it is a pleasure to read his account of what was, indisputably, a momentous time...[yet] the result is a book that falls far short of the declaration made in its subtitle." - Jonathan Yardley 05/10/1998 Los Angeles Times Book Review
"There is enough good writing in '1898' to convince us that the United States was indeed a fascinating, burgeoning, stubbornly contradictory country in that year. The problem with Traxel's book is that it whets, but does not satisfy, the appetite to find out just how and why this was so." - Susie Linfield 06/21/1998
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