The WORDS WE LIVE BY

by Brian Burrell

A treasury of the words that have shaped America, from the Pledge of Allegiance to the Hippocratic Oath to the creed of the Elvis Presley Impersonator's Association and the rules of the Manhattan's Empire Diner, is accompanied by authoritative commentary and anecdotes on each piece. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2011

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look into creeds, mottos, and pledges. The final chapter is noteworthy regarding the history of classical architecture.

[Jeff Russo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like a book that got padded a bit because its premise was not enough to hold a whole book together. Much of the early part of the book contained pages of discussion that didn't much seem like they belonged - such as a few pages of discussion of the history of temperance societies in America. Yes, they may have had a slogan or two, but it still felt like a stretch.

I'm also not a fan of the organization, where much of the texts discussed are placed all together at the end of the book, instead of interleaving them in the main section or perhaps placing them at the end of chapters.

I had trouble holding my attention to this book.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great reference material for those of us who understand the threat to our Constitution. Its written in kind of a narrative style, filled with text boxes full of facts and anecdotes, footnotes, side notes.

[Nilendu Misra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally found the meaning to be American. 'To not to be told what to do or think and yet communally believe in some unalterable - preferably catchy - bytes'. Tocqueville insightfully observed it in 1830. As this year's events proved, we have not changed much in 200 years!