In fact, those periods only appear uneventful because they were mostly filled with conservative, mediocre Presidents who did little more than maintain the status quo established by the business leaders of their day. After scratching beneath the surface I found that the real excitement was in the popular political movements and activist leaders of the time. Many of my favorite books on American history about people like Mother Jones, William Jennings Bryan, Jane Addams and Eugene Debs all cover years that once bored me.
That's what motivated me to pick up a new book called Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950 by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore. I'm fascinated by the desperate, pioneering courage of those early civil rights leaders who risked the most to fight back. The introduction describes it as "a history in which ideas are embodied in a collective biography of activist black and white Southerners."
I hate writing reviews so instead I'm going to write my thoughts after each chapter or two of reading. I don't know how often or quickly I'll read it so posts may be sporadic. A few people were nice enough to make purchases from Powell's Books through my website link so I used the small commission to buy this book. Thank you! You can also check out some of my favorites on my bookshelf.
To further prove what a tremendous dork I am, I'm going to listen to music recorded in the years covered by the book while I'm reading. Call it mood music. Right now its Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis recorded in 1949. Each time I write I'll let people know what I'm listening to.