<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A juvenile biograph of the American patriot Betsy Ross
Review: For some reason I always thought that relatively little was known about the life of Betsy Ross. She is remembered because of the story of how she came to make the first flag for the United States, a story that she told to her grandchildren, one of which, William Canby, popularized the story of making the flag. In June of 1776 Betsy Ross was a 24 year old widow whose husband has just been killed during the American Revolution. However, in this volume for the Revolutionary War Leaders series, Susan Martins Miller goes well beyond the famous story to tell the life of a young woman who grew up during the American Revolution and saw not one but two husbands die during the war. Granted, Miller is clearly working from limited historical resources. There are many times in this book where she talks about historical events in Philadelphia in a general sense along with some speculations about what Betsy and her family did during those times. The book also looks at the history of the American flag; for example, as long as flags had seven red stripes and six white stripes, American flag makers could shape and arrange the stars in any way they wish (e.g., stars with six points arrange up and down in a 1-3-5-3-1 pattern). However, the main thing is that out of a limited amount of historic information, Miller is able to provide additional facts and weave together a fuller portrait of the life of Betsy Ross. The book is illustrated with both historic paintings and ethics as well as contemporary photographs of the Betsy Ross house and other things you can see in Philadelphia today. In the back of the book young readers will find a Glossary, a Chronology of Betsy Ross's life and a Revolutionary War Time Line. Other volumes in the Revolutionary War Leaders series look at Nathan Hale, John Paul Jones, George Washington, and other founding fathers; of course, Ross is the only woman on the list. Chelsea House also has series devoted to Colonial Leaders (e.g., Lord Baltimore, William Penn) and the Civil War (e.g., Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman). All of these series are quite good in terms of providing looks at many of the key figures from these periods that are mentioned in American history textbooks.
Rating:
Summary: A juvenile biograph of the American patriot Betsy Ross
Review: For some reason I always thought that relatively little was known about the life of Betsy Ross. She is remembered because of the story of how she came to make the first flag for the United States, a story that she told to her grandchildren, one of which, William Canby, popularized the story of making the flag. In June of 1776 Betsy Ross was a 24 year old widow whose husband has just been killed during the American Revolution. However, in this volume for the Revolutionary War Leaders series, Susan Martins Miller goes well beyond the famous story to tell the life of a young woman who grew up during the American Revolution and saw not one but two husbands die during the war. Granted, Miller is clearly working from limited historical resources. There are many times in this book where she talks about historical events in Philadelphia in a general sense along with some speculations about what Betsy and her family did during those times. The book also looks at the history of the American flag; for example, as long as flags had seven red stripes and six white stripes, American flag makers could shape and arrange the stars in any way they wish (e.g., stars with six points arrange up and down in a 1-3-5-3-1 pattern). However, the main thing is that out of a limited amount of historic information, Miller is able to provide additional facts and weave together a fuller portrait of the life of Betsy Ross. The book is illustrated with both historic paintings and ethics as well as contemporary photographs of the Betsy Ross house and other things you can see in Philadelphia today. In the back of the book young readers will find a Glossary, a Chronology of Betsy Ross's life and a Revolutionary War Time Line. Other volumes in the Revolutionary War Leaders series look at Nathan Hale, John Paul Jones, George Washington, and other founding fathers; of course, Ross is the only woman on the list. Chelsea House also has series devoted to Colonial Leaders (e.g., Lord Baltimore, William Penn) and the Civil War (e.g., Robert E. Lee, William T. Sherman). All of these series are quite good in terms of providing looks at many of the key figures from these periods that are mentioned in American history textbooks.
<< 1 >>
| 
