The Mirrors of Washington Book

WHAT IT IS: A left-leaning "narrative history" of the United States from 1932-72.
WHAT I LEARNED: I learned what I already knew from the Preacher in Ecclesiastes: "... there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The "National Indignation Conventions" in Dallas in 1961 and 1963 sound a lot like this year's Tea Parties. The opening year of the FDR and Kennedy administrations have unmistakable parallels to the opening year of the Obama administration. An oil spill off of Santa Barbara in 1969 could be this year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill -- along with the determination that this is going to change the way we do things. (From the book: "... drilling leases in the Santa Barbara Channel were suspended. Then the petroleum industry began applying pressure.")
WHAT I LIKED (WITH RESERVATIONS): William Manchester uses details to bring history to life, particularly the major events. Sometime, in describing lifestyles from various years, he goes into too much detail for my taste. And I wish there had been pictures. I don't think I enjoy any writer of history and biography more than I enjoy Manchester. I only wish he were around to write a narrative history of the United States from 1972-2012.