Isaac Asimov Presents from Harding to Hiroshima: An Anecdotal History of the United States from 1923 to 1945 Based on Little-Known Facts and the Live

by Barrington Boardman, Isaac Asimov

Presents facts and trivia on national events, regional news, foreign affairs, sports, and entertainment from 1923 to 1945

Genres: History

319 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

This is a book that Asimov listed among the ones he has written. Well, he did present it, whatever that means. And he provided the foreword. Maybe he did some fact checking? I doubt it. In any case the name Asimov caused me to buy and read the book. And I feel cheated.

Not that it is a really bad book. It does what it promises to do telling little stories for each year from 1923 to 1945. Mainly about American politics. Some foreign anecdotes. Something about books and movies and sports (or what Americans consider to be sports). Most of it is either just boring or well known. So I learn that the son of A. A. Milne served in the British army during the war. Why did the author think that this was an interesting fact? The search for Scarlett I have read a hundred times before. And who does not know that Reagan was supposed to play the role of Rick Blaine in Casablanca?

Of course there are also bits and pieces that I found interesting. The Black Thursday, Boardman writes, was not nearly as dramatic as folk history wants us to believe. The New York Times did not even consider it to be the most important event of the year. Depression started only eight months later.

I liked Charles S. Ford, who said that he was so fond of truth that he rather stood alone being right as going with the crowd and be wrong. He was a proponent of flat-earth-theory. Unfortunately I was unable to find anything about the guy. Unless he meant Charles Fort. Which would be strange but possible. Boardman tells us, for example, that Mickey Mouse is known as Michael Maus in Germany. That is definitely not the case. And the French name he gives us is also made up. So, I cannot trust him.

The final verdict? A collection of sometimes amusing, occasionally interesting facts – if they are facts. Reading the book is the equivalent of strolling thru YouTube mini videos. You do it knowing you are wasting your time.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almanac-ish book, history light, but entertaining.

[Curtiss]

The Good Doctor presents an anecdotal history of The United States, from 1923 and the Presidency of Warren G. Harding, to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945; delivered it with Asimov's usual inimitably lucid and witty style. This is a variation from the Good Doctor's typical enjoyable and informative narratives covering the history of civilization.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting anecdotes on American history in the timeframe outlined. Good book, but only if you like putting a human side on that dry, dusty thing called history.