The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History

Survey. In her book titled, The Ideas That Made America: A Brief History, Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagan offers a brisk survey of key thinkers and ideas from the Enlightenment to today, and how those ideas have helped shape the United States of America. After I finished reading the book, I was mildly satisfied. I didn’t necessarily learn anything new. I felt I was exposed to one person’s assessment of some influential ideas and placed them in context with evolving life in America and with each other idea. If a reader knows a lot about any of the ideas she surveys in this book, that section may seem too light. I think the purpose of the book was to give an overview, and let readers decide where they would to do more reading. I realized it’s time for me to revisit some of the transcendentalists. Read a sample and decide where your thinking about thinking needs to go next. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase The Ideas That Made America from amazon.com.