GUEST
Rebecca Romney, Manager, Bauman's Rare Books Las Vegas
Bauman's Rare Books in the Palazzo Shoppes has assembled a collection of rare books and documents from the Revolutionary Era. It will be on display through the end of July. The display includes a book owned by Thomas Jefferson, histories of the War of Independence by losing British Generals Sir John Burgoyne and Sir Banastre Tarleton and a copy of Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" from 1756.
Meanwhile, around the web, bloggers offer their suggestions for Fourth of July reads, many of which are available via new, glossy paperbacks. The staff at PBS Newshour’s listincludes the classic “Peoples History of the United States,” as well as less conventional choices like Stephen King’s “11/22/63” (“Hurry, before it gets ruined via a television series.”)
Slate is focusing on some recent books about American history that writer Eric Herschthal says ignore contemporary scholarship. “What all these authors share is an antiquated focus on high politics and military battles, areas that contemporary historical research has basically forsaken as irrelevant to the greater questions the Revolution raises,” says Herschthal.
And Huffington Post’s picksfor celebrating the Fourth bibliophile-style include Cokie Roberts’ “Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation,” and this year’s Pulizer Prize winner for history, “Washington: A Life,” by Ron Chernow.