ePub Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution by Richard Stites in History

Description

In this provocative and timely collection of essays--five published for the first time--one of the most important ethnohistorians writing today; James Axtell; explores the key role of imagination both in our perception of strangers and in the writing of history. Coinciding with the 500th anniversary of Columbus's "discovery" of America; this collection covers a wide range of topics dealing with American history. Three essays view the invasion of North America from the perspective of the Indians; whose land it was. The very first meetings; he finds; were nearly always peaceful. Other essays describe native encounters with colonial traders--creating "the first consumer revolution"--and Jesuit missionaries in Canada and Mexico. Despite the tragedy of many of the encounters; Axtell also finds that there was much humor in Indian-European negotiations over peace; sex; and war. In the final section he conducts searching analyses of how college textbooks treat the initial century of American history; how America's human face changed from all brown in 1492 to predominantly white and black by 1792; and how we handled moral questions during the Quincentenary. He concludes with an extensive review of the Quincentenary scholarship--books; films; TV; and museum exhibits--and suggestions for how we can assimilate what we have learned.