Scan barcode
expatally's review against another edition
3.0
Dense book full of details about many women who were instrumental during this time period. I would recommend the audible version where Roberts is the narrator.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
My friend gave me this book a number of years ago when Cokie Roberts was the speaker at the Virginia Library Association meeting. I don't remember why I couldn't go, but it was so nice to have this book. However, sometimes owning a book means I don't get around to reading it. There are always more books to read and a book in hand is slightly less interesting than a book I haven't seen yet. Not sure why it works that way, but I know it means my house has lots of books.
I am glad I picked this up. The timing was right - I had reading time and energy to absorb and enjoy it. I learned a lot - which is always a plus for me with any type of book. Also, by the time I finished the book, women's rights were once again in the news. This political period that we are living in does not resemble what was happening during the beginnings of our country. It was life and death for the country and the people at that time. Right now, we are not behaving well, but I am hoping we are not in a life or death situation.
I recommend this book for anyone who thinks they know American history and those who know they don't know our beginnings very well. I think both groups will learn something. This would be especially good for those who think women were not involved with our country's beginnings.
Thank you Cokie Roberts for a well-written, fascinating book that greatly improved my knowledge of American history.
I am glad I picked this up. The timing was right - I had reading time and energy to absorb and enjoy it. I learned a lot - which is always a plus for me with any type of book. Also, by the time I finished the book, women's rights were once again in the news. This political period that we are living in does not resemble what was happening during the beginnings of our country. It was life and death for the country and the people at that time. Right now, we are not behaving well, but I am hoping we are not in a life or death situation.
I recommend this book for anyone who thinks they know American history and those who know they don't know our beginnings very well. I think both groups will learn something. This would be especially good for those who think women were not involved with our country's beginnings.
Thank you Cokie Roberts for a well-written, fascinating book that greatly improved my knowledge of American history.
rachelmay1's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve enjoyed learning about women in history so much more this year. I enjoyed this book and learning more about women’s role in the Revolutionary war. Seriously, complete badasses.
Abigail Adams was phenomenal. Also learned, Ben Franklin...kind of a jerk. If a woman behaved like him in history, the history books wouldn’t talk of her like they do him.
Anyways, great read.
Abigail Adams was phenomenal. Also learned, Ben Franklin...kind of a jerk. If a woman behaved like him in history, the history books wouldn’t talk of her like they do him.
Anyways, great read.
katiebellmoore's review against another edition
4.0
It's unbelievable that the heroic efforts of these women haven't been taught more. Kudos to Roberts for shining the light.
bawright1987's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book, it was such an interesting take on the birth of our nations-and refreshing to read about women who acted and thought in an age where one assumes women were meek and submissive wives. It makes me want to read more thorough biographies about many of the women that Cokie has written about in this collection.
jennifermreads's review
2.0
I thoroughly enjoyed looking a little bit into the lives of some of the women who had an impact on the founding of our nation. There were some names I knew: Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Dolley Madison. There were more names I had never heard: Mercy Otis Warren, Phillis Wheatley, Esther DeBerdt Reed, Sarah Livingston Jay, and Catherine Littlefield Greene. I also was not familiar with any of the names dropped on the featured double-page spreads Women Writers and Women Warriors. So this was a real history lesson for me … or rather it had the potential to be a real history lesson. What do I foresee instead? I see masses of little girls and boys coming to the library desk looking for “more about Sarah Livingston Jay” or “Esther DeBerdt Reed” because there wasn’t enough in this particular volume to satisfy curious minds.
Given that Ms. Roberts wrote a full-length adult version on this subject, I would have hoped for a teensy bit more from this version-for-kids. And, while I’m grateful for the list of websites at the end of the book and the acknowledgements given to the libraries that assisted the author, I would have hoped that the book, which touts itself as supporting the Common Core, had included a list of resources! How can we teach children to do good research when books do not offer credit where credit is due?
Overall, this was enough to spark curiosity but not enough to quench it.
Given that Ms. Roberts wrote a full-length adult version on this subject, I would have hoped for a teensy bit more from this version-for-kids. And, while I’m grateful for the list of websites at the end of the book and the acknowledgements given to the libraries that assisted the author, I would have hoped that the book, which touts itself as supporting the Common Core, had included a list of resources! How can we teach children to do good research when books do not offer credit where credit is due?
Overall, this was enough to spark curiosity but not enough to quench it.
crysrowe's review against another edition
2.0
This book had so much promise, but I found it to be one big fat let down. There's no sense of organization, she jumps back and forth between years and people, and there's no art of storytelling. I learned a few things, and was left wanting to read more about women during the revolutionary times, so for that, I give it 2 stars instead of 1.
mscalls's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and War
amymo73's review against another edition
4.0
I have a bunch of books about American history on my bookshelf (ok bookshelves. I have bookshelves in pretty much every room of my house) and decided to read one for the Fourth of July. Cokie's book has been on my to-read book for years, so dive in I went.
It was a great read with snippets of Cokie's voice. Here's the main takeaway: women had a lot to do with the American Revolution and birthing the new nation. While the men were organizing and fighting, the women were keeping businesses and finances afloat (even though they could own none of what they were working to save because, you know, they were married women and hence could not own property). Women had plenty of opinions about liberty and freedom and nation building. They had influence. It just was never recorded.
Huh. Seems to happen a lot in history, right? Voices are ignored or written out of the story. How vital it is to find those voices and listen to them.
The biggest names in the book are Martha Washington and Abigail Adams -- not just because they were married to the first two presidents but because the most has been saved and written about them. Abigail in particular seems pretty darn feisty. (Note to self: read more about Abigail Adams) She was more pro-revolution than her husband in the beginning!
And perhaps my favorite quote in the book is from Martha Washington: "The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not upon our circumstances."
It was a great read with snippets of Cokie's voice. Here's the main takeaway: women had a lot to do with the American Revolution and birthing the new nation. While the men were organizing and fighting, the women were keeping businesses and finances afloat (even though they could own none of what they were working to save because, you know, they were married women and hence could not own property). Women had plenty of opinions about liberty and freedom and nation building. They had influence. It just was never recorded.
Huh. Seems to happen a lot in history, right? Voices are ignored or written out of the story. How vital it is to find those voices and listen to them.
The biggest names in the book are Martha Washington and Abigail Adams -- not just because they were married to the first two presidents but because the most has been saved and written about them. Abigail in particular seems pretty darn feisty. (Note to self: read more about Abigail Adams) She was more pro-revolution than her husband in the beginning!
And perhaps my favorite quote in the book is from Martha Washington: "The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not upon our circumstances."