spencer_wright's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible history from early colonial period of the US up to the signing of the Articles of Confederation. Very well researched, very interesting, I learned a lot! This is what history books should be!
rotorguy64's review against another edition
5.0
Rothbard is most famous (or infamous) as a political philosopher, for such works as [b:For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto|1268994|For a New Liberty The Libertarian Manifesto|Murray N. Rothbard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1184280797s/1268994.jpg|1696120]. It would be easy enough to dismiss his work as a historian out of hand for this reason, but I think that would be a huge mistake. When I got Conceived in Liberty, I, too, thought it would be a narrative, perhaps a truthful one, certainly one from a valuable perspective, but still a narrative. Narratives are all well and good, but they don't substitute for learning the actual facts and events.
I was pleasantly surprised, then, that Rothbard didn't just write a narrative. This is a bona fide historical textbook (series of textbooks, really), one that painstakingly describes events, quotes witnesses and letters, mentions statistics, and so on. Some impressive sourcework went into it, too, both of primary and secondary sources. Rothbard presents nothing less than a very thorough and very detailed reconstruction of some 250 years of American history. He gives dates, places, names, all you could ask for in a textbook. He relates the individual battles of the American Revolution, that time Pennsylvania was without an effective government for seven years, Benjamin Franklins sheer numberless acts of opportunism (such as drawing up the Mutiny Act of 1765), the "Great Awakening", the Green Mountain Boys, the Regulators and the Sons of Liberty, and a good hundred more events and people.
Of course, Rothbard, being the stereotypical libertarian, talks from a libertarian perspective. I have no doubt his bias sometimes got the better of him, that he didn't relay all the nuances there were to some of the more statist characters he describes, or - more importantly - that he got too euphemistic over such types as John Wilkes, and hence wouldn't see their shortcomings. That is to be expected in any history book, and at least Rothbard is open about possible biases. Most importantly, his history is so detailed that it should be easy enough to disprove him if he got something wrong, or even to disagree with parts of his overall narrative based on the text itself. So, no harm done.
What I particularly liked was that he was capable of grasping religious motivations. I know of surprisingly few authors who are capable of doing so, even among professional historians, yet surprisingly, Rothbard - an agnostic, I believe - pulled it off. He doesn't fall into clichés, either. While his sympathies obviously lie with the Quakers, he does acknowledge that at some point, they lost their pacifistic ways. And as a Catholic, I was particularly glad that he both acknowledged that Maryland was very tolerant when it had a Catholic majority, and that the American Revolution was partially sparked by anti-Catholicism. Speaking of religion, here is one of Rothbards hottest takes: The Salem Witch Trials had nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with politics. They targetted political enemies, and ended as soon as the prosecutors themselves were named by "witnesses". Religion did play a role, but only as a spurious excuse.
As for what I got out of this book, that is a bit hard to say, simply because of its scope. For me, it's the only textbook on early American history that I am going to need for perhaps a few years to come. Not because it is that good, but because I plan to specialize in other periods, like the Middle Ages in general and the Crusades in particular, or early Church history. If I ever decide to read up more on American history, then I am convinced that /b>Conceived in Liberty will provide me with an excellent foundation to build on.
I was pleasantly surprised, then, that Rothbard didn't just write a narrative. This is a bona fide historical textbook (series of textbooks, really), one that painstakingly describes events, quotes witnesses and letters, mentions statistics, and so on. Some impressive sourcework went into it, too, both of primary and secondary sources. Rothbard presents nothing less than a very thorough and very detailed reconstruction of some 250 years of American history. He gives dates, places, names, all you could ask for in a textbook. He relates the individual battles of the American Revolution, that time Pennsylvania was without an effective government for seven years, Benjamin Franklins sheer numberless acts of opportunism (such as drawing up the Mutiny Act of 1765), the "Great Awakening", the Green Mountain Boys, the Regulators and the Sons of Liberty, and a good hundred more events and people.
Of course, Rothbard, being the stereotypical libertarian, talks from a libertarian perspective. I have no doubt his bias sometimes got the better of him, that he didn't relay all the nuances there were to some of the more statist characters he describes, or - more importantly - that he got too euphemistic over such types as John Wilkes, and hence wouldn't see their shortcomings. That is to be expected in any history book, and at least Rothbard is open about possible biases. Most importantly, his history is so detailed that it should be easy enough to disprove him if he got something wrong, or even to disagree with parts of his overall narrative based on the text itself. So, no harm done.
What I particularly liked was that he was capable of grasping religious motivations. I know of surprisingly few authors who are capable of doing so, even among professional historians, yet surprisingly, Rothbard - an agnostic, I believe - pulled it off. He doesn't fall into clichés, either. While his sympathies obviously lie with the Quakers, he does acknowledge that at some point, they lost their pacifistic ways. And as a Catholic, I was particularly glad that he both acknowledged that Maryland was very tolerant when it had a Catholic majority, and that the American Revolution was partially sparked by anti-Catholicism. Speaking of religion, here is one of Rothbards hottest takes: The Salem Witch Trials had nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with politics. They targetted political enemies, and ended as soon as the prosecutors themselves were named by "witnesses". Religion did play a role, but only as a spurious excuse.
As for what I got out of this book, that is a bit hard to say, simply because of its scope. For me, it's the only textbook on early American history that I am going to need for perhaps a few years to come. Not because it is that good, but because I plan to specialize in other periods, like the Middle Ages in general and the Crusades in particular, or early Church history. If I ever decide to read up more on American history, then I am convinced that /b>Conceived in Liberty will provide me with an excellent foundation to build on.
sjg63's review against another edition
5.0
An amazingly detailed history of America from the first settlers up through the end of the revolution. Fantastic! I hope I retained 10% of it!
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