America, 1908 : the dawn of flight, the race to the Pole, the invention of the Model T, and the making of a modern nation

**"An entertaining survey" (__Publishers Weekly__) through the highs and lows of a spectacular, pivotal year in American history—1908.**A captivating look at a bygone era through the lens of a single, surprisingly momentous American year one century ago. 1908 was the year Henry Ford launched the Model T, the Wright Brothers proved to the world that they had mastered the art of flight, Teddy Roosevelt decided to send American naval warships around the globe, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series (a feat they have never yet repeated), and six automobiles set out on an incredible 20,000 mile race from New York City to Paris via the frozen Bering Strait.A charming and knowledgeable guide, Rasenberger takes readers back to a time of almost limitless optimism, even in the face of enormous inequality, an era when the majority of Americans believed that the future was bound to be better than the past, that the world's worst problems would eventually be solved, and that nothing at all was impossible. As Thomas Edison succinctly said that year, "Anything, everything is possible." A breathtaking ride through the highs and lows of one spectacular, pivotal year in American history. As the earth turned toward the sun on the first morning of 1908, human flight remained, for most Americans, in the realm of myth and dream. But before the darkness fell on New Year's Eve at the end of the year, the Wright brothers would be worldwide celebrities, heralded as the first people in all of human history to conquer the sky. It was the year Teddy Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on a voyage around the globe, Robert Peary began his courageous dash to the North Pole, six automobiles left Times Square on an epic twenty-thousand-mile race to Paris, and Henry Ford introduced an oddly shaped new automobile called the Model T. It was a time of seemingly boundless innovation - everything was bigger, better, fast, and greater than ever before. In New York and Chicago, banks of high-speed elevators zipped through vertical shafts in the tallest buildings on earth. Pneumatic tubes whisked mail between far-flung post offices in minutes. Women cleaned their homes with amazing new devices called vacuums. And as American engineers cut a fifty-mile canal through the Isthmus of Panama, the very air buzzed with the imagined potential of new technology, including a "portable wireless telephone" that would someday allow people to talk while they walked. Meanwhile, the New York Giants battled the Chicago Cubs in one of the most thrilling seasons in baseball history, and a reluctant William Howard Taft was elected twenty-seventh president of the United States. By turns gripping and humorous, shocking and delightful, Jim Rasenberger's America, 1908 brings to life our nation as it was one hundred years ago, at a moment of delirious optimism and pride, a time when Americans believed that even the most intractable problems would soon be solved and that the future was bound to be better than the past. "What will the year 2008 bring us?" pondered the New York World on New Year's Day of 1908. "What marvels of development await the youth of tomorrow?" As Thomas Edison said later that year, "Anything, everything, is possible." Shedding new light on stories we thought we knew and telling fresh stories we can't believe we've never heard, American, 1908 is a rousing chronicle of a country on the brink of greatness - and a timely, thought-provoking glimpse at a younger America, even as we wonder what awaits us in the century ahead.

the 2005 Ashes Series Was The Most Eagerly Anticipated For Decades. Not Since 1989 Had The Famous Urn Left The Hands Of The All-conquering Australians, And With England In The Ascendant After A String Of Test Successes, Hopes Were High That The Balance Of Power Inworld Cricket Would At Last Shift.

the Series Did Not Disappoint. From The Rip-roaring First Day At Lord's, With Seventeen Wickets Falling, It Was Clear We Were In For Something Special. Although The Visitors Went Onto Win That Match England Bounced Back With A Spectacular Win At Edgbaston, And Further Nailbiting Finishes Followed At Old Trafford, Trent Bridge And The Oval. In This Sparkling Account Of An Amazing Summer, England's Coach Duncan Fletcher Reveals The Strategies, The Stresses And Successes Of One Of The Greatest Series In The History Of The Game.

publishers Weekly

former vanity Faircontributing Editor Rasenberger (high Steel) Provides An Entertaining Survey Of 366 Distant American Days (1908 Was A Leap Year). As The Author Admits, History Does Not Fit Neatly Into 12-month Segments, And Rasenberger Frequently Has To Reach For Benchmarks. Yes, During 1908, Henry Ford Introduced The Model-t: The First Affordable Automobile. However, He'd Actually Invented The Horseless Buggy Years Before. These Quibbles Aside, What A Difference A Century Makes, And How Easy The Confidence Of 1908 Looks By Contrast With Today. The Imperially Ambitious Theodore Roosevelt Was President, And The World Seemed Ripe For Redemption Through American Innovation, Exploration And Colonization. All Righteous Patriots Applauded As Tr Dispatched His Great White Fleet On A Friendship Cruise Round The World, To Show Off American Might. Yet, As Rasenberger Shows, A Different Reality Lurked Behind The Red, White And Blue Banners. That Same Year, Anarchist Selig Silverstein Exploded A Bomb In New York City, And Throughout The South Blacks Died At The Ends Of Nooses Hoisted By Lynch Mobs. Rasenberger Renders 1908 As A Series Of Snapshots, And His Camera Never Blinks. 44 B&w Illus. (nov.)

copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

"An entertaining survey" ( Publishers Weekly ) through the highs and lows of a spectacular, pivotal year in American history—1908. A captivating look at a bygone era through the lens of a single, surprisingly momentous American year one century ago. 1908 was the year Henry Ford launched the Model T, the Wright Brothers proved to the world that they had mastered the art of flight, Teddy Roosevelt decided to send American naval warships around the globe, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series (a feat they have never yet repeated), and six automobiles set out on an incredible 20,000 mile race from New York City to Paris via the frozen Bering Strait. A charming and knowledgeable guide, Rasenberger takes readers back to a time of almost limitless optimism, even in the face of enormous inequality, an era when the majority of Americans believed that the future was bound to be better than the past, that the world's worst problems would eventually be solved, and that nothing at all was impossible. As Thomas Edison succinctly said that year, "Anything, everything is possible." The 2005 Ashes series was the most eagerly anticipated for decades. Not since 1989 had the famous urn left the hands of the all-conquering Australians, and with England in the ascendant after a string of Test successes, hopes were high that the balance of power in world cricket would at last shift. The series did not disappoint. From the rip-roaring first day at Lord's, with seventeen wickets falling, it was clear we were in for something special. Although the visitors went onto win that match England bounced back with a spectacular win at Edgbaston, and further nailbiting finishes followed at Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Oval. In this sparkling account of an amazing summer, England's coach Duncan Fletcher reveals the strategies, the stresses and successes of one of the greatest series in the history of the game Introduces the year 1908 as a pivotal turning point in American history marked by such events as the first flight and Peary's quest to the North Pole, in an account that explains how each spectacle contributed to the nation's growing dominance as a worldpower Jim Rasenberger. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 283-290) And Index.