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America, 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T and the Making of a Modern Nation
A breathtaking ride through the highs and lows of one spectacular, pivotal year in American history.
As the earth turned toward the sun on the first morning of 1908, human flight remained, for most Americans, in the realm of myth and dream. But before the darkness fell on New Year's Eve at the end of the year, the Wright brothers would be worldwide celebrities, heralded as the first people in all of human history to conquer the sky.
It was the year Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on a voyage around the globe, Robert Peary began his courageous dash to the North Pole, six automobiles left Times Square on an epic twenty-thousand-mile race to Paris, and Henry Ford introduced an oddly shaped new automobile called the Model T.
It was a time of seemingly boundless innovation - everything was bigger, better, fast, and greater than ever before. In New York and Chicago, banks of high-speed elevators zipped through vertical shafts in the tallest buildings on earth. Pneumatic tubes whisked mail between far-flung post offices in minutes. Women cleaned their homes with amazing new devices called vacuums. And as American engineers cut a fifty-mile canal through the Isthmus of Panama, the very air buzzed with the imagined potential of new technology, including a "portable wireless telephone" that would someday allow people to talk while they walked.
Meanwhile, the New York Giants battled the Chicago Cubs in one of the most thrilling seasons in baseball history, and a reluctant William Howard Taft was elected twenty-seventh president of the United States.
By turns gripping and humorous, shocking and delightful, Jim Rasenberger's America, 1908 brings to life our nation as it was one hundred years ago, at a moment of delirious optimism and pride, a time when Americans believed that even the most intractable problems would soon be solved and that the future was bound to be better than the past.
"What will the year 2008 bring us?" pondered the New York World on New Year's Day of 1908. "What marvels of development await the youth of tomorrow?" As Thomas Edison said later that year, "Anything, everything, is possible."
Shedding new light on stories we thought we knew and telling fresh stories we can't believe we've never heard, American, 1908 is a rousing chronicle of a country on the brink of greatness - and a timely, thought-provoking glimpse at a younger America, even as we wonder what awaits us in the century ahead.
As the earth turned toward the sun on the first morning of 1908, human flight remained, for most Americans, in the realm of myth and dream. But before the darkness fell on New Year's Eve at the end of the year, the Wright brothers would be worldwide celebrities, heralded as the first people in all of human history to conquer the sky.
It was the year Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on a voyage around the globe, Robert Peary began his courageous dash to the North Pole, six automobiles left Times Square on an epic twenty-thousand-mile race to Paris, and Henry Ford introduced an oddly shaped new automobile called the Model T.
It was a time of seemingly boundless innovation - everything was bigger, better, fast, and greater than ever before. In New York and Chicago, banks of high-speed elevators zipped through vertical shafts in the tallest buildings on earth. Pneumatic tubes whisked mail between far-flung post offices in minutes. Women cleaned their homes with amazing new devices called vacuums. And as American engineers cut a fifty-mile canal through the Isthmus of Panama, the very air buzzed with the imagined potential of new technology, including a "portable wireless telephone" that would someday allow people to talk while they walked.
Meanwhile, the New York Giants battled the Chicago Cubs in one of the most thrilling seasons in baseball history, and a reluctant William Howard Taft was elected twenty-seventh president of the United States.
By turns gripping and humorous, shocking and delightful, Jim Rasenberger's America, 1908 brings to life our nation as it was one hundred years ago, at a moment of delirious optimism and pride, a time when Americans believed that even the most intractable problems would soon be solved and that the future was bound to be better than the past.
"What will the year 2008 bring us?" pondered the New York World on New Year's Day of 1908. "What marvels of development await the youth of tomorrow?" As Thomas Edison said later that year, "Anything, everything, is possible."
Shedding new light on stories we thought we knew and telling fresh stories we can't believe we've never heard, American, 1908 is a rousing chronicle of a country on the brink of greatness - and a timely, thought-provoking glimpse at a younger America, even as we wonder what awaits us in the century ahead.
307 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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335 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
April 15, 2011
An entertaining and at times fascinating account of events in American history - political, cultural, scientific and more - during the year 1908. The book's only downfall is in the author's insistence at telling the stories in chronological order. The result is too jarring to make for captivating reading. For example, in one chapter the author relates the details of a baseball game. I was not very interested in this story at first, but soon found myself lost in the game, pulling the book closer to my face, as if that would help me get the words in faster. Then, at the story's climax the author switches gears and begins tellings us about the invention of the Model T Ford. Typically I would have been more interested in the Model T story, but found it an irritating inclusion that kept me from my baseball story. We return to the baseball story in the next chapter, at its chronologically correct position, but I have lost interest by then, and the baseball story is now an irritant keeping me from the story it has just interrupted. That said, I would recommend this book to those who enjoy non-fiction. Just be prepared to read it as a month-by-month narrative.
April 24, 2021
A focus on a single year, and what a year this was. Thrilling baseball and milestones of flight, a crazy round-the-world race and race to the pole, and the start of the Model T. Was apparently used as a textbook at one point - doesn't read like it.
The story begins with the rich getting away with crimes, how American. These events are the least recognizable to fans of history. In chapters roughly a month at a time, the author details what leads up to events and what happens, with the reason this is impactful. Some events tie into others, and these connections are often used to transition.
The author has said other books have been written about many of these events, and that leads to the brevity here. I think he did a good job summarizing and explaining necessary details. I would have appreciated a brief "what happened after" epilogue, especially after having spent so much time on Harry Thaw.
I read this as an audio book, and no doubt missed out on many pictures. I found a summary article from the Smithsonian that had several, and know the era well enough - wikipedia is also your friend. Overall rating 3½ stars out of 5.
The story begins with the rich getting away with crimes, how American. These events are the least recognizable to fans of history. In chapters roughly a month at a time, the author details what leads up to events and what happens, with the reason this is impactful. Some events tie into others, and these connections are often used to transition.
The author has said other books have been written about many of these events, and that leads to the brevity here. I think he did a good job summarizing and explaining necessary details. I would have appreciated a brief "what happened after" epilogue, especially after having spent so much time on Harry Thaw.
I read this as an audio book, and no doubt missed out on many pictures. I found a summary article from the Smithsonian that had several, and know the era well enough - wikipedia is also your friend. Overall rating 3½ stars out of 5.
May 25, 2020
Read this for an American history coarse in college. Very interesting and accessible. Felt like reading fiction at times. So much happened in that year and you learn a lot. I love efficiency.
August 26, 2021
The author is a cynical and depressing “glass half full” person. His view of this history seems politically motivated and (in my opinion) wrong. Not content with reporting history, the author wants to influence our opinions with his own prejudice,
May 1, 2011
The title of this book pretty much says it all. It is an in-depth look into life in the United States in the year 1908.
Why 1908? Well, it turns out that 1908 was a fairly exciting and somewhat pivotal year in American history, even if most U.S. history classes tend to fly right by it in our enduring quest to make history all about the wars we've fought. It is the year that Teddy Roosevelt sent The Great White Fleet sailing around the world, for the first time flexing America's military might for the world to see. It is the year that the Wright brothers began their well-publicized flight trials, opening up the age of aviation. And it is the year that the Model T first rolled off the assembly line, beginning America's still-strong obsession with automobiles.
All of this and much more is covered in Rasenberger's in-depth yet concise book. I wouldn't say that I have expert knowledge of U.S. history, but I know a lot more than many people do, and Rasenberger still managed to capture my interest with lots of little tidbits I'd never heard of before. It's a surprisingly fascinating and easy read. If you have even a passing interest in American history, I highly recommend it.
Why 1908? Well, it turns out that 1908 was a fairly exciting and somewhat pivotal year in American history, even if most U.S. history classes tend to fly right by it in our enduring quest to make history all about the wars we've fought. It is the year that Teddy Roosevelt sent The Great White Fleet sailing around the world, for the first time flexing America's military might for the world to see. It is the year that the Wright brothers began their well-publicized flight trials, opening up the age of aviation. And it is the year that the Model T first rolled off the assembly line, beginning America's still-strong obsession with automobiles.
All of this and much more is covered in Rasenberger's in-depth yet concise book. I wouldn't say that I have expert knowledge of U.S. history, but I know a lot more than many people do, and Rasenberger still managed to capture my interest with lots of little tidbits I'd never heard of before. It's a surprisingly fascinating and easy read. If you have even a passing interest in American history, I highly recommend it.
July 8, 2012
The strong points are very strong but there are flaws
America, 1908 covers some of the key cultural, political, manufacturing and just plain odd events that happened in 1908 in the United States in an easy-to-read, often fun format. These include the Race to the North Pole, the New York to Paris automobile race, the introduction of the Model T, the last time the Cubs won the World Series, the Wright Brothers proving the world that they really could fly (and do it for hours, not just seconds) and a series of horrible race-based lynchings.
While I enjoyed learning more about the Wright Brothers and the Model T, other parts seemed more than a bit skewed towards events in New York City (the Cubs win their last World Series and it's told from the point of view of the New York Giants?) and against rural areas and the South (the only references to the South are from newspapers mentioning events in NYC or about lynchings and attacks of corporate tobacco interests. Surely something happened that was not a lynching or some other violent act?)...
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...
America, 1908 covers some of the key cultural, political, manufacturing and just plain odd events that happened in 1908 in the United States in an easy-to-read, often fun format. These include the Race to the North Pole, the New York to Paris automobile race, the introduction of the Model T, the last time the Cubs won the World Series, the Wright Brothers proving the world that they really could fly (and do it for hours, not just seconds) and a series of horrible race-based lynchings.
While I enjoyed learning more about the Wright Brothers and the Model T, other parts seemed more than a bit skewed towards events in New York City (the Cubs win their last World Series and it's told from the point of view of the New York Giants?) and against rural areas and the South (the only references to the South are from newspapers mentioning events in NYC or about lynchings and attacks of corporate tobacco interests. Surely something happened that was not a lynching or some other violent act?)...
Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/...
October 12, 2016
A good survey of America in 1908, from the trial of the century of Harry Thaw, the wrights constant breaking of flight records, across the world automobile race, and the presidential election.
December 24, 2020
America, 1908 was published in 2008, with the idea of both broadly looking anew at the America of a century ago as well as revisiting a singularly impressive year. To recap, in 1908 the following happened: Henry Ford produced the first Model T, the Wright brothers publicly and repeatedly proved the possibilities of flight (as well as recorded the first aviation fatality), the world’s military powers grasped the implications of flight on and for future conflicts, Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet ‘round the world, and Robert Peary put his boot print (or was it a snow shoe print?) on the North Pole.
Jim Rasenberger recounts all of these feats, as well as less earth shattering anecdotes about women’s fashions, holiday celebrations, and the zany New York-to-Paris (by-way-of-the-Bering-Strait) automobile race. His prose is lively and vivid and all the richer for a liberal sprinkling of excerpts from 1908 papers; I often felt that I had been transported back in time and was reading the accounts as they were happening. Very often I couldn't help thinking, "it's hard to believe this was only 100 years ago." At the same time, as my great-grandfather was born in the opening weeks of 1909, it was fun to contemplate the world he was born into and consider yet again how completely the world had changed in his lifetime. Reflecting on 1908, and therefore 2008 – or any other recent year for that matter – I can only hope that in 100 years a future author will be up to the task of such a fun and, yes, beachworthy retelling of the year that was. Not that books will still exist in another 100 years.
Jim Rasenberger recounts all of these feats, as well as less earth shattering anecdotes about women’s fashions, holiday celebrations, and the zany New York-to-Paris (by-way-of-the-Bering-Strait) automobile race. His prose is lively and vivid and all the richer for a liberal sprinkling of excerpts from 1908 papers; I often felt that I had been transported back in time and was reading the accounts as they were happening. Very often I couldn't help thinking, "it's hard to believe this was only 100 years ago." At the same time, as my great-grandfather was born in the opening weeks of 1909, it was fun to contemplate the world he was born into and consider yet again how completely the world had changed in his lifetime. Reflecting on 1908, and therefore 2008 – or any other recent year for that matter – I can only hope that in 100 years a future author will be up to the task of such a fun and, yes, beachworthy retelling of the year that was. Not that books will still exist in another 100 years.
June 13, 2018
Tonight I finished a very interesting American History book; America 1908. Unlike most history books that can be overly dry and factual, author Jim Rasenberger has a talent for making history come alive! His writing is light and easy with the ability to make the historic ground-breaking events of 1908 extremely exciting.
Those readers who love history, adventure, innovation, and exploration, or have a passionate interest in the progress of our country, will love this wonderful book. I never realized how important the year 1908 was until now.
America 1908 highlights the incredible events of Henry Ford's creation of the Model T automobile that took the country by storm, the exciting and dangerous New York to Paris car race, the horrors of the explorers racing to be the first to discover the North Pole, Teddy Roosevelt's success with the Great White Fleet that logged in 43,000 miles in order to pave the way of creating allies for the upcoming Great War, and lastly the feature event of the year, the Wright brothers sensational conquering of the air claiming fame with their first record-breaking flights! From Kitty Hawk North Carolina all the way to France, they were the heroes of 1908!
Although I read this is sections in between other novels, I found this book simply riveting and a page turner. To learn how our country evolved due to the actions of the leaders and forerunners of the era was eye-opening and fascinating! Five Stars!
Those readers who love history, adventure, innovation, and exploration, or have a passionate interest in the progress of our country, will love this wonderful book. I never realized how important the year 1908 was until now.
America 1908 highlights the incredible events of Henry Ford's creation of the Model T automobile that took the country by storm, the exciting and dangerous New York to Paris car race, the horrors of the explorers racing to be the first to discover the North Pole, Teddy Roosevelt's success with the Great White Fleet that logged in 43,000 miles in order to pave the way of creating allies for the upcoming Great War, and lastly the feature event of the year, the Wright brothers sensational conquering of the air claiming fame with their first record-breaking flights! From Kitty Hawk North Carolina all the way to France, they were the heroes of 1908!
Although I read this is sections in between other novels, I found this book simply riveting and a page turner. To learn how our country evolved due to the actions of the leaders and forerunners of the era was eye-opening and fascinating! Five Stars!
June 21, 2022
A captivating and thoroughly researched account of an astonishing year in American history. A year that brought us the magnificent achievement of flight, the unveiling of an automobile that would change the country from one on horseback to one that could cover the same territory that would take days in just a matter of hours. The book includes fascinating details on the men who chased after the North Pole, an automobile race around the world and an unforgettable baseball season that was decided by a monumental bonehead play. The sights, sounds and stories are brought to life in an accessible and entertaining storyline. The year included a long forgotten race riot in Springfield, Illinois which was a reflection of our current and ongoing race struggles. We can see ourselves in this incredible year and see how it transformed and shaped our nations future.
June 21, 2020
Great Story! Impeccable Historical Narrative!
A fantastic narrative and history as only Jim Rasenberger can write. I was totally unaware of all the events that unfolded during the year 1908 and Rasenberger, with his deft research, eye for detail, and genius of weaving a comprehensive and interconnected mosaic of the times, creates a narrative that is understated and compelling in scope.
The intimacy in tone and content he creates throughout the narrative, especially in his treatment of the Wright Brothers, the N.Y. Giants/1908 baseball season, Theodore Roosevelt, and the racial unrest in Springfield, Illinois makes these and other events come alive and gives each personage and event a soul and a good measure of significance.
Highly Recommend!!
A fantastic narrative and history as only Jim Rasenberger can write. I was totally unaware of all the events that unfolded during the year 1908 and Rasenberger, with his deft research, eye for detail, and genius of weaving a comprehensive and interconnected mosaic of the times, creates a narrative that is understated and compelling in scope.
The intimacy in tone and content he creates throughout the narrative, especially in his treatment of the Wright Brothers, the N.Y. Giants/1908 baseball season, Theodore Roosevelt, and the racial unrest in Springfield, Illinois makes these and other events come alive and gives each personage and event a soul and a good measure of significance.
Highly Recommend!!
February 5, 2017
It's safe to assume that many Americans entered 1908 having never seen a movie, ridden in an automobile or grasped that humans could fly - and ended the year having done all three. - Jim Rasenberger from his extraordinary look at an inventive explorative year in America's history. -America 1908
It won't take a person two months to read, it was set aside to read others, plus the holidays tend to interrupt ones reading. Enjoy.
It won't take a person two months to read, it was set aside to read others, plus the holidays tend to interrupt ones reading. Enjoy.
October 9, 2022
Enlightening Weaving of a Vivotal Year
Few woulf pick up a book to read a book about a seemingly obscure year like 1908. But those who are curious about history, u derstanding our present and wanting to get a feel for the possibilities of the future, this is a must read. Rasenberger weaves a tale showing the subtle revolution that was happening politically, socially, and technologically in the U.S. and the impact on the world.
Few woulf pick up a book to read a book about a seemingly obscure year like 1908. But those who are curious about history, u derstanding our present and wanting to get a feel for the possibilities of the future, this is a must read. Rasenberger weaves a tale showing the subtle revolution that was happening politically, socially, and technologically in the U.S. and the impact on the world.
August 7, 2019
A really different perspective - on multiple key events that happened during 1908 - airplanes, a worldwide car race, the invention of the Model T Ford , and reaching the Mirth Pole. Interspersed were the politics of Teddy Roosevelt and the horrors of Jim Crow laws on blacks. A compact history of the US for one year.
June 17, 2022
A fun short book to give a primer on a monumental year in American history. The Wright Brothers, the Great White Fleet, the Model T, Times's Square, Teddy Roosevelt's last year, and more. It does a good narrative job leading us through the history, and also sheds light on the beginning of the end of the Gilded Age and the progressivism of Teddy Roosevelt, as well as America's rise before WWI.
August 14, 2022
There was a lot going on in 1908: around the world auto races, TR in the Whitehouse, polar exploration, advances in flight, the voyage of the great white fleet, and, as every fan of the Giants knows, it is also the cursed year of the notorious Merkel Boner. This book kept the history interesting and I enjoyed it.
May 11, 2017
A very exciting year to be alive. This was the year the Wright brothers really proved the air plane was for real and the year that Henry Ford began making the model T. Rasenberger has a very readable style and I look forward to reading more of his books.
November 9, 2017
Rasenberger takes an in depth look at a single year in American history. And what a year! I was amazed to realize how eventful 1908 turned out to be. This was a fascinating book.
October 22, 2018
It was rather amusing to know Evelyn Nesbitt and her husband ride am electric vehicle after his first trial!
August 15, 2020
Never would have thought that a single year in American history could be any fuller than what is illustrated here. A must read for any lover of American history.
January 25, 2022
Very entertaining book full of interesting detail. Very well written and edited.
October 25, 2025
Very well written description of a seminal year in US history. The stories were fascinating to read and I had to force myself to avoid googling to find out what happened before the book did.
December 17, 2008
One of my favorite time periods to study and read about is the turn of the 20th century through World War I. There was just so much going on and changing during this time period and I find it all very interesting. So when I saw the title of this book it naturally jumped out at me. A whole book about the year 1908? What exactly happened in 1908 to constitute a whole book being written about it? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Rasenberger chronicles the year from the first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square to the Great White Fleet, the New York to Paris automobile race (what a farce!), to anarchists in New York and both Cook and Peary reaching the North Pole and each making claims of being the first one there. The Wright brothers (love those boys!) made great strides with the airplane but the first person also died in an airplane wreck in 1908. President Roosevelt served his last term as president and backed Taft as the republican candidate. There was a huge (and sickening) race riot in Springfield, Illinois that would lead to the founding of the NAACP. There was also some crazy baseball played in 1908 and Henry Ford introduced the Model T, which would open the world of automobiles to the masses.
So, yeah, I guess enough happened to warrant an entire book being written. However, on the same note, I think someone could sit down and read the newspaper archives from the New York Times, just as Rasenberger did, for any year and probably come up with enough material to write a book. A lot happened and it was an interesting year to read about but I don't think it was a pivotal as Rasenberger would have the reader believe.
Rasenberger relied heavily on newspapers for his research and it often felt like I was reading newspaper accounts of the events. I also wish Rasenberger would have realized that America is much bigger than New York City. It would have been nice to get some more perspective from people living elsewhere in the country. Maybe a better title would have been New York 1908 because while the events do not all happen in New York there is a very heavy New York slant to the book.
A good, well paced book none the less. It managed to keep me occupied while I sat in a hospital waiting room for several hours. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about history.
Rasenberger chronicles the year from the first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square to the Great White Fleet, the New York to Paris automobile race (what a farce!), to anarchists in New York and both Cook and Peary reaching the North Pole and each making claims of being the first one there. The Wright brothers (love those boys!) made great strides with the airplane but the first person also died in an airplane wreck in 1908. President Roosevelt served his last term as president and backed Taft as the republican candidate. There was a huge (and sickening) race riot in Springfield, Illinois that would lead to the founding of the NAACP. There was also some crazy baseball played in 1908 and Henry Ford introduced the Model T, which would open the world of automobiles to the masses.
So, yeah, I guess enough happened to warrant an entire book being written. However, on the same note, I think someone could sit down and read the newspaper archives from the New York Times, just as Rasenberger did, for any year and probably come up with enough material to write a book. A lot happened and it was an interesting year to read about but I don't think it was a pivotal as Rasenberger would have the reader believe.
Rasenberger relied heavily on newspapers for his research and it often felt like I was reading newspaper accounts of the events. I also wish Rasenberger would have realized that America is much bigger than New York City. It would have been nice to get some more perspective from people living elsewhere in the country. Maybe a better title would have been New York 1908 because while the events do not all happen in New York there is a very heavy New York slant to the book.
A good, well paced book none the less. It managed to keep me occupied while I sat in a hospital waiting room for several hours. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about history.
May 31, 2013
As an aficionado of Turn of the Century culture and history (turn of the 19th to the 20th century that is), I found Jim Rasenberger's book America 1908 a total delight, evoking the spirit and ideas of America over a century ago, with page-turning readability and vividly drawn anecdotes. Choosing 1908 as his historical focus, Rasenberger takes readers on a journey into the last days of Teddy Roosevelt's White House, and then off into a mindless competition of automobiles racing around the world, while also exploring how Henry Ford's Model-T reached a pinnacle of industry and transportation. We also get a bird's eye view of the original flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and Rasenberger convincingly notes it made few headlines on that fateful day in Kitty Hawk. Rasenberger writes with a novelist's flair for the uncanny and peculiar, and also colors past moments as if they just happened in yesterday's news cycle. In some ways and perhaps intentionally, 1908 (published in 2008) also is a mirror back to our modern times, how far we have progressed, and the values and beliefs, both the good and questionable, that continue to shape our American consciousness. The era is punctuated by optimism that comes through in Rasenberger's prose, the sense that Americans were embarking upon an era of rugged industry and inventiveness and 1908 was at the heart of so many important breakthroughs in modern history. He even brings baseball into the mix, the infamous "Merkel Boner" that cast a shadow over the New York Giants 1908 season, almost attaining the peaking crescendos of operatic tragedy. America 1908 is history at its most enjoyable, and makes you wonder why they force kids in school to read dry textbooks, when titles like this bring a far-off era into full sensory detail.
November 11, 2008
An unexpectedly interesting book - Exactly 100 years before now, a presidential race underway, and other similarities. The author just follows the months through the year, describing American news and events.
He focuses on the Wright brothers improving the airplane to where they routinely make hour long flights in front of large crowds (though 1908 is the year of the first death of an airplane passenger ever ...); the year when 500 automobile companies produced 250,000 cars between them. At the end, Ford and the model T for the everyman ($868) began production and the masses thronged for it. There is Perry and Cook both reaching the North Pole, a car race from New York to Paris - heading West, they actually thought the cars could race across the Bering Strait when it was frozen over ..
The biggest event of interest was the race riot in Springfield Illinois in 1908. A white woman accused (falsely it turns out) a black man of raping her, and the white citizens tore up the black properties and everything else they could find. The book explores the antipathy towards blacks as a companion to the Jim Crow laws of the south. All this was of interest as exactly 100 years later, Obama wins in November, from Illinois, and is headed to the White House.
All in all, an eclectic way to read history..
He focuses on the Wright brothers improving the airplane to where they routinely make hour long flights in front of large crowds (though 1908 is the year of the first death of an airplane passenger ever ...); the year when 500 automobile companies produced 250,000 cars between them. At the end, Ford and the model T for the everyman ($868) began production and the masses thronged for it. There is Perry and Cook both reaching the North Pole, a car race from New York to Paris - heading West, they actually thought the cars could race across the Bering Strait when it was frozen over ..
The biggest event of interest was the race riot in Springfield Illinois in 1908. A white woman accused (falsely it turns out) a black man of raping her, and the white citizens tore up the black properties and everything else they could find. The book explores the antipathy towards blacks as a companion to the Jim Crow laws of the south. All this was of interest as exactly 100 years later, Obama wins in November, from Illinois, and is headed to the White House.
All in all, an eclectic way to read history..
February 4, 2012
America 1908 is a wonderful look at a year that shaped the course of the 20th century for America and defined a generation leapfrogging technology in a way that would not be seen until the Second World War. Unlike many history of technology books this is really a social look at some of the great achievement of the year and focuses on not only technology, but politics and baseball as a way to address the social medium and change of the time. From the onset of progressivism to the Model T and advent of the airplane the year 1908 was filled with milestones. Baseball is a prominent feature in the book and the famed penut race of 1908 is detailed perfectly in here focusing on what happened in baseball after the first ball dropped from Times Square kicking off this whimsical and climatic year. Although new to Rasenberger as a historian I was favorably impressed by his analysis and careful thought in what to include on a book spanning multiple topics over 1 year. While many times these books can appear random this author does an excellent job of sticking to salient information and presenting clear correlations between his topics. I will say that while some events are not as important or as earth shattering as others they still make for interesting reading. Overall it's a great addition to history of technology and American social history and well worth a read.
July 31, 2011
I started this book as something to hold me over till I found something better. Never expecting I would actually finish it. What a surprise it was when I actually enjoyed this book. I even find myself recommending it to people. I loved how the author started out by comparing 1808, 1908 and 2008. It put everything in perspective. And it's quite an eye opener to realize how much can actually happen in one year. 1908 was an exciting year with lots of change. Change that has shaped the lives we live today. Jim Rasenberger did an excellent job of keeping it all interesting, even topics I wouldn't normally find interesting. He does this by making the people and events real. We aren't just reading about history. We are reading about the people that made history. Probably the best part of this book for me was learning the origin of many things we take for granted today. Did you know that "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" was written by a man that had never been to a baseball game. Do you know where the term "Melting Pot" came from? Did you know there was an actual race around the world using only automobiles and the original route required them to travel only on land? Neither did I!
July 28, 2011
I like the idea behind this engaging work of non-fiction: take one year in the cultural life of America, and trace the major discoveries, scandals, and current events that took place, as a way of delving into the mindset of the people living then. The author does just that, choosing January to December of 1908 as his year of choice, for the striking number of landmark American events that happened to coincide then. (The dawn of flight, race to the north pole, and invention of the Model T being just a few.) Since I'm a history buff, I've often read books that outline a period in history, or a lifetime of an interesting person, but never a volume on a single year. It certainly allowed the author the breathing space to REALLY get into the subject, load the content with detail and color, and bring those 12 months to life for the reader. I learned some fascinating facts, and gained an understanding of American life then that I've never felt in any other history book I've read. Honestly, I wish this book was one in a series! Can I request the author try this experiement again with "1783," "1865," or "1967?"
March 4, 2015
Great fun to read! Rasenberger takes an engaging look at a year that might be said to truly herald the arrival of the 20th century. In addition to the three signal events mentioned on the book cover – explorers heading off to the North Pole, the Wright Brothers taking flight and Henry Ford manufacturing the Model T – the author also looks at a celebrated trial, popular music, movies and the politics of the day.
My favorite thought-provoking statement comes late in the book when Rasenberger notes that when 1908 began, many Americans hadn’t viewed a movie, ridden in an automobile or come to accept that people might fly in airplanes. But by the end of 1908, they had done all three.
Now that, my friends, is quite a year.
But the author also makes note of something far more sobering. In a year that opened onto a century where almost anything would become possible, many Americans were frightened by so much change and would increasingly take refuge in rigid political dogmas – and fundamentalism.
And that, my friends, is evident everywhere we look in 2015.
My favorite thought-provoking statement comes late in the book when Rasenberger notes that when 1908 began, many Americans hadn’t viewed a movie, ridden in an automobile or come to accept that people might fly in airplanes. But by the end of 1908, they had done all three.
Now that, my friends, is quite a year.
But the author also makes note of something far more sobering. In a year that opened onto a century where almost anything would become possible, many Americans were frightened by so much change and would increasingly take refuge in rigid political dogmas – and fundamentalism.
And that, my friends, is evident everywhere we look in 2015.
January 10, 2012
This is a well written account of the different strands of history that made America such a significant place to be in 1908. The sections on the Wright Brothers and Cook's trip to the Arctic are particularly good, though I think one of the faults of this book is that sections on individual storylines are a little too long, and that there isn't enough about life for ordinary people. Having started the book with the story of a very ordinary boy, I would like to have read more about what it was like to live in America during this extraordinary year of scientific and international discovery, what sort of daily experiences and hardships normal, unremarkable people had so that one could assess the impact of these discoveries in a different way other than with hindsight. Rasenberger is very comprehensive in his historical story-telling, but I'd like to have read more scope of America's stories.
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