Product Description: Master storyteller Joy Hakim has excited millions of young minds with the great drama of American history in her award-winning series A History of US. Hailed by historians, educators, and parents for its exciting, thought-provoking narrative, the books have been recognized as a break-through tool in teaching history and critical reading skills to young people. And the kids themselves agree: Hakim has piles of fan letters as testimony. Beginning in January, PBS, in association with Thirteen/WNET, General Electric and Kunhardt Productions, will present Freedom: A History of US, an innovative television mini-series based on Joy Hakim's award-winning books. Katie Couric will host the series, George and Laura Bush will introduce the first episode, and celebrated actors such as Paul Newman, Glenn Close, Robin Williams, Matthew Broderick, Angela Bassett, Jeremy Irons, John Lithgow, and Morgan Freeman will participate as narrators. The program will focus on the history of the United States through the inspiring story of our fight to uphold the ideal of freedom, beginning with the Declaration of Independence in 1776, culminating in the Civil Rights movement, and concluding with the challenges posed by the September 11th attacks. In 8 one-hour episodes appearing nationally on public television, the story of America will unfold through Joy Hakim's vision: her belief that freedom survives again and again, despite all the mistakes and tragic setbacks, and that in order to succeed in upholding this great ideal we must examine the past. The Freedom: A History of US companion book to the PBS series will capture both the visual energy of the programs and Hakim's rare gift for telling history through the lives of its makers. The book will follow the thread of the programs and also expand on them, providing a more complete picture of the people and events that shaped a defiant band of thirteen colonies into a great nation of 50 states. More than 400 illustrations, sidebars, and historical documents enhance this stunning look at American history for families to share, discuss, and treasure. Freedom: A History of US is an essential book for every household in America, and reminds us that great storytelling and a passion for freedom will always have a place at the table.
Entitlement is not Freedom The author appears to confuse entitlement with freedom and group rights with individual rights. Instead of documenting the erosion of individual freedom in the US the author documents the growth of the welfare state and the systematic loss of property rights. Although this book does disservice to the concept of freedom it is a pretty book that is nicely laid out. By endorsing this book in the foreword the Bushes tragically confirm that politicians have no concept of freedom.
Utter nonsense I was asked to tutor US history to a boy in Washington DC, and had the 10-part version of this book recommended to me as the textbook to use. I got as far as page 13 before having to stop -- I pride myself on teaching as objectively as possible, or at least giving both sides of an argument, but this book is so full of inaccuracy and bias that I couldn't bear to plough on and fill my tutees head with nonsense.
Here are a couple of examples:
p12 "...being an American is a privilege. People all over the world wish that they, too, could be American. Why? Because we are a nation that is trying to be fair to all our citizens. That is unusual."
Apart from questions over whether it is true or not, in what way is the unsubstantiated statement that "being an American is a privilege" anything to do with the study of history? Do people all over the world wish they could be American? It's doubtful. It's probably true that lots of people would like to live in America, having fallen for the PR that everyone can make lots of money there (and not because of its "fairness"), but actually wanting to be an American is a different matter entirely.
p13 "Then they [the Founding Fathers] did something never done before: they created a people's government."
Not unless they happened to be doing their founding prior to 979AD, they didn't. Because that was when the Tynwald in the Isle of Man was founded.
I gather from the authors of various websites with more fortitude than I to read further that similar errors and biases occur throughout the series.
I would strongly recommend that everyone avoids this book.
Buyer Beware. I doubt there's any US History textbooks more excitingly written for kids age 9-12 than Joy Hakim's. (Her series is the one used in one of the best private schools in Silicon Valley.) They're glossy and beautiful, and well-nigh irresistible. What an incredible shame. What's the problem? The problem is they contain a version of history so slanted as to amount to an utterly shameless propagandizing of children. I'm a liberal atheist, but, really, her books should be sealed into a time capsule, to entertain future historians.
I assume Hakim simply doesn't know any better, but even a Marxist with a PhD in American History would blush a little to discover that a child reading this series would never suspect that close to 100 million innocent men, women, and children died under the yoke of socialist regimes, nor that a third of the world was plunged into an unnecessary grinding poverty for decades. On the other hand, they will learn, as they should, that National Socialism murdered six million innocents, and that the Ku Klux Klan `grew hugely' in the 1920s. But they won't learn that any other serious totalitarian movements also grew hugely in the 1920s, or that five million innocents died under the rule of Lenin's first experiment in socialism in the 1920s.
On the contrary, all anti-Communism in the twentieth century is presented as nothing better than a witch-hunt. Indeed, anti-communism is literally referred to as a `witch-hunt,' several times. Come on. So, was the fight against Hitler's National Socialism a `witch-hunt'? Why such a palpable double standard for twin evils? Hakim teaches children that while National Socialism was indeed a real and present danger, and even worth waging an unprecedented World War to fight it, on the other hand, international socialism, or Communism, was, as she tells it, never any real danger to Americans.
For instance, there's a chapter on the HUAC hearings in which McCarthy is referred to as a 'liar' about a half a dozen times. The chapter literally begins with the opening sentence "Joe McCarthy was a liar." Sure, he's controversial, but the latest research by historians just doesn't back up Hakim's wild-eyed account of liberal anti-socialism in America as nothing better than a nefarious `witch-hunt' conducted by `liars' and oppressors. Totalitarian Communist Lillian Hellman is profiled as a hero, and the overall impression is given that none of these people really were Communists, but, instead, were all just as falsely accused as the supposed `witches' of Salem.
This conclusion is then used to prove the statement that Americans are a fundamentally paranoid people, who basically lose their marbles very once in a while. (See book "Not Without Honor." on McCarthy and PBS documentary on Salem to find out why even Salem wasn't actually paranoia after all, but a toxic crop of moldy rye.)
History? I am in an 7th grade social studies and this textbook is the worst piece of garbage I have ever read. There is no relevant vocabulary, no glossary, lacks important facts, and is psuedo history.
Regrets I should have recorded the TV airing of this series. As the producers are not going to offer the mentioned DVD set to general public purchase. Disappointingly the DVD set is only available to educational intructors in institutions of actual schools.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
