A Concise History of the American Republic

by Samuel Eliot Morison, William E. Leuchtenburg, Henry Steele Commager

A political, economic, and cultural survey from the earliest exploration of the New World to the present

Genres: History, Nonfiction

880 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Samuel Eliot Morison, son of John H. and Emily Marshall (Eliot) Morison, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 9 July 1887. He attended Noble’s School at Boston, and St. Paul’s at Concord, New Hampshire, before entering Harvard University, from which he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1908. He studied at the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, Paris, France, in 1908-1909, and returned to Harvard for postgraduate work, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1912. Thereafter he became Instructor, first at the University of California in Berkeley, and in 1915 at Harvard. Except for three years (1922-1925) when he was Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford, England, and his periods of active duty during both World Wars, he remained continuously at Harvard University as lecturer and professor until his retirement in 1955.

He had World War I service as a private in the US Army, but not overseas. As he had done some preliminary studies on Finland for Colonel House’s Inquiry, he was detailed from the Army in January 1919 and attached to the Russian Division of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, at Paris, his specialty being Finland and the Baltic States. He served as the American Delegate on the Baltic Commission of the Peace Conference until 17 June 1919, and shortly after returned to the United States. He became a full Professor at Harvard in 1925, and was appointed to the Jonathan Trumbull Chair in 1940. He also taught American History at Johns Hopkins University in 1941-1942.

Living up to his sea-going background – he has sailed in small boats and coastal craft all his life. In 1939-1940, he organized and commanded the Harvard Columbus Expedition which retraced the voyages of Columbus in sailing ships, barkentine Capitana and ketch Mary Otis. After crossing the Atlantic under sail to Spain and back, and examining all the shores visited by Columbus in the Caribbean, he wrote Admiral of the Ocean Sea, an outstanding biography of Columbus, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1943. He also wrote a shorter biography, Christopher Columbus, Mariner. With Maurico Obregon of Bogota, he surveyed and photographed the shores of the Caribbean by air and published an illustrated book The Caribbean as Columbus Saw It (1964).

Shortly after the United States entered World War II, Dr. Morison proposed to his friend President Roosevelt, to write the operational history of the US Navy from the inside, by taking part in operations and writing them up afterwards. The idea appealed to the President and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, and on 5 May 1942, Dr. Morison was commissioned Lieutenant Commander, US Naval Reserve, and was called at once to active duty. He subsequently advanced to the rank of Captain on 15 December 1945. His transfer to the Honorary Retired List of the Naval Reserve became effective on 1 August 1951, when he was promoted to Rear Admiral on the basis of combat awards.

In July-August 1942 he sailed with Commander Destroyer Squadron Thirteen (Captain John B. Heffernan, USN), on USS Buck, flagship, on convoy duty in the Atlantic. In October of that year, on USS Brooklyn with Captain Francis D. Denebrink, he participated in Operation TORCH (Allied landings in North and Northwestern Africa - 8 November 1942). In March 1943, while attached to Pacific Fleet Forces, he visited Noumea, Guadalcanal, Australia, and on Washington made a cruise with Vice Admiral W. A. Lee, Jr., USN. He also patrolled around Papua in motor torpedo boats, made three trips up “the Slot” on Honolulu, flagship of Commander Cruisers, Pacific Fleet (Rear Admiral W.W. Ainsworth, USN), and took part in the Battle of Kolombangara before returning to the mainland. Again in the Pacific War Area in September 1943, he participated in the Gilbert Islands operation on board USS Baltimore, under command of Captain Walter C. Calhoun, USN. For the remainder of the Winter he worked at Pearl Harbor, and in the Spring

Reviews

[Juan Nalerio · Rating 4 out of 5]

En más de 1000 páginas, “Breve historia de los Estados Unidos” nos va componiendo el desarrollo de esta nación de manera ágil. Parecen muchas páginas para una historia “breve”, pero abarca no sólo lo político, sino también lo social, lo económico y lo cultural.

Muy buen libro para entender la evolución de ese país. Lamentablemente, llega hasta la presidencia de Regan por lo que debe ser complementado con una lectura que llegue a nuestros días. Aunque en realidad, viendo como han actuado en el pasado no es difícil seguir el trazo hasta el presente…

[Esagui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es mucho más interesante la historia sobre la fundación y expansión hacía el Oeste, que todo lo acontecido luego de la Guerra Civil.
Mientras al principio se encontraba mucha información detallada, cada vez fue perdiendo ritmo y pasando por acontecimientos muy importantes, ampliamente documentados y que manejaban de manera superficial. Tal vez por la documentación excesiva así, sin embargo se siente la falta de ritmo.
Poco más se puede decir sobre un libro tan claro en el tema a tratar.

[Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gran libro para tener una idea clara de los orígenes de los EUA, así como de sus presidentes que ayudaron a consolidarla como nación, dando inicio a su expansión, para cumplir su destino manifiesto, según el pensamiento, del mandatario en turno. Asimismo, se hace mención de los esfuerzos que hizo la sociedad norteamericana para ser independiente en los ámbitos económico, político y tecnológico de su madre patria, Inglaterra, no sin la renuencia de la misma, sin imaginar que sería el pueblo norteamericano quien la salvaría de sucumbir en las dos guerras en las que se vieron envueltos los ingleses.

[Aubrey (janethebookworm)]

School. no rating