Overview

""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.""

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Reviews

A grand and inspiring panoply. <p><p><p><p>-- Newsweek

An exhilarating panorama of the United States as it was a century ago. The cast of characters here, from Teddy Roosevelt to Fred Merkle (the luckless batter whose mistake lost the New York Giants a still-legendary pennant race), is unforgettable. And the America that shows itself in this masterful narrative constantly reveals links to America today. --Mark Caldwell, author of New York Night: The Mystique and Its History

Rasenberger's research is voluminous and he is a master storyteller. -- Chicago Sun-Times

Rasenberger's research is voluminous and he is a master storyteller. -- Chicago Sun-Times A grand and inspiring panoply. --Newsweek

Author Information

Jim Rasenberger is the author of five books--A Perfect Coincidence; Revolver; The Brilliant Disaster; America, 1908; and High Steel--and has contributed to the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, and other publications. A native of Washington, DC, he lives in New York City.

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