Alabama: A History (States & the Nation)

Rating:
Summary: Riveting Alabama History
Review: I loved this book and I can't let that one star review go by unchallenged. I came up through the Alabama public school system and graduated from the University of Alabama, so I took required Alabama history four times. Not all of it was fascinating. I thought this little book was riveting reading. Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton wrote a concise history of our state. Any student of Alabama history will not stop with this book, but it is a good starting point. I recommend that serious students go on to read Dr. Wayne Flynt's excellent Alabama histories.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting Alabama History
Review: I loved this book and I can't let that one star review go by unchallenged. I came up through the Alabama public school system and graduated from the University of Alabama, so I took required Alabama history four times. Not all of it was fascinating. I thought this little book was riveting reading. Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton wrote a concise history of our state. Any student of Alabama history will not stop with this book, but it is a good starting point. I recommend that serious students go on to read Dr. Wayne Flynt's excellent Alabama histories.

Rating:
Summary: To What Purpose?
Review: This book is the result of the false premise that a concise history of Alabama can be accurately summarized in less than 200 pages. It simply cannot be done, and to even attempt such an endeavor does a disservice to pedestrian readers of Alabama history. It is inevitable that in producing what is essentially an abridged, Cliff Notes-style version of this state's history, the author possesses vast power. Much like an analytical chemist, Dr. Hamilton has crystallized Alabama history, utilizing only those elements she deems of paramount importance. Thus, the reader is presented with little more than a lengthy op-ed piece, rather than a scholarly, comprehensive study. While this reviewer fully realizes that this work was produced as part of a series of state histories, he nonetheless holds to the position that the absence of Alabama from such a series would have been of far more value than a book designed, much like an automobile, to precise specifications. Far more damaging, is the sad fact that portions of this "history" are often cited in other articles, thus satisfying the appetites of lazy writers and researchers who prefer their history in low-cal, microwavable form.

Rating:
Summary: To What Purpose?
Review: This book is the result of the false premise that a concise history of Alabama can be accurately summarized in less than 200 pages. It simply cannot be done, and to even attempt such an endeavor does a disservice to pedestrian readers of Alabama history. It is inevitable that in producing what is essentially an abridged, Cliff Notes-style version of this state's history, the author possesses vast power. Much like an analytical chemist, Dr. Hamilton has crystallized Alabama history, utilizing only those elements she deems of paramount importance. Thus, the reader is presented with little more than a lengthy op-ed piece, rather than a scholarly, comprehensive study. While this reviewer fully realizes that this work was produced as part of a series of state histories, he nonetheless holds to the position that the absence of Alabama from such a series would have been of far more value than a book designed, much like an automobile, to precise specifications. Far more damaging, is the sad fact that portions of this "history" are often cited in other articles, thus satisfying the appetites of lazy writers and researchers who prefer their history in low-cal, microwavable form.