This is Dr. Carson's fifth book. You have probably heard of his first one, Gifted Hands, or you saw the movie by the same title. If you ever feel that the odds are stacked against you, read Gifted Hands and your perspective will change. But today I'm not here to talk about that book or any of his other previous ones. Instead, I want to talk about his latest: America the Beautiful; Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great.
I'm not going to list a lot of details about this book because to do so would be to repeat the facts Dr. Carson presents. Briefly, I will say this. Dr. Carson takes a look at our "founding fathers" and what they hoped to accomplish in establishing this "free" nation. He shows that they didn't just "happen" upon the idea of a republic; instead, they pulled the principles of a republic out of ancient history and patterned our government on those that had offered freedom and opportunities to anyone who would work hard. He talks about our nation's strengths and its weaknesses. He shows how the freedoms that our forefathers worked and died to provide and preserve for this country are being whittled away by socialism and economic irresponsibility, as well as personal irresponsibility. He compares the good and the bad of socialism and capitalism. He talks about a number of changes that have taken place in our government and our culture, changes that have been detrimental to the republic that was started at such great cost. In spite of many negative issues, Dr. Carson and his wife Candy, who helped with this book, ended on a positive note; a note of hope for the future.
The topic of this book is, to me, dry and hard to keep in focus. However, Dr. Carson held my attention fully. I like the fact that he presented this "dry" information in a way that brought it to life to me. Trust me when I say that any author who can keep me wanting to read a civics book is an author who has made the topic understandable. This is a man who is extremely intelligent yet writes in a simple, easy to understand way and gets his points across clearly. Anyone can repeat big words and sound bites in a way that makes him appear intelligent. Dr. Carson shows that he knows his U.S. history and civics thoroughly; he is able to explain it in simple, layman's terms and do so in a way that makes it interesting to one who isn't particularly fond of the topic.
Another thing I really like about Dr. Carson and this book is the fact that he is open and honest about himself and his background. He is a black man who grew up in a neighborhood and a time in history when virtually everyone around him expected a government hand-out for anything they wanted. He speaks openly about growing up poor and being a "victim" or prejudice. By all accounts this man should be quite liberal, politically. And he did go that way initially. But he continues by telling how he used his brain; he began to look around himself and evaluate what he saw. And he thought about what he saw and heard. He came to appreciate the fact that he lived in a country where a "poor black boy" could receive a free (public school) education and then attend a college (Yale) that most Americans can't even dream of attending. He changed his point of view from that of most of his peers.
America the Beautiful; Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great is a book filled with facts about our nation's history, culture, and government. It is information every American should know and value. Ben and Candy Carson have made challenging facts interesting and understandable. They have done this, in part, by interspersing the civics lesson with anecdotal stories from his life, presenting a true "rags to riches" story as one example of the greatness of America.
Happy Reading :-)
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