Great poems interpreted, with biographical notes of the authors represented Book

3 stars [History]
(W: 2.83, U: 3, T: 3, L: 4)
Exact rating: 3.21
#45 of 92 in genre

A textbook of American History for elementary age, covering from 1600 - 1840. The rating above is for the general reader; if applied more narrowly to elementary students, I would add +0.5 to Use and +0.25 to Truth (because full-orbed description is not critical for those less-nuanced years), for a 3.5 star designation and an exact 3.40 rating.

The layout is quite excellent, with many colorized woodcuts, paintings, maps, sketches, ornamentation, and pronunciation of unusual names. Several processes, from early propaganda to gunsmithing to getting a wagon across the Oregon trail, are described in notable detail. I was amazed at how coherent and fact-based the whole thing was, compared to typical, vapid or politically-motivated productions of modern miseducation. Then I noticed it was first published in 1968, by a former Librarian of Congress.