Posted by
Rural Anorak on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 10:30:57 PM
Currently, I am reading Voume IV of Sir Winston Churchill's magnificent series: A History of the English Speaking Peoples. This was the last volume picks up just after the War of Independence. Reading about the early years of this Republic is very enlightening, made more so that it is told frm a perspective that is different from most American histories. Maybe if more people would read the words of Sir Winston, this country will continue to be the inspiration it has been.
Really the entire series should be required reading. In the long and storied history of the country now known as the United Kingdom, one can see the infant steps that led to fifty-six men affixing their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. The British dealt with absolutism, despotism, economies that rose and fell, there was tension between classes and a civil war. The wise men who came together in Philadelphia two hundred thirty-two years ago were quite familiar with this history. It was by learning from that history that the foundations of this country were laid.