Here's a good reason to read a good history book!


If you’ve never thought you would willingly pick up a history book, or encourage your kids to study history, here’s something that should shock you.

According to a study conducted in 2005, for the second year in a row at America’s “elite” universities and colleges, students have failed to rise above a “D plus” on basic knowledge tests about civics and American history.

It’s not that history is unimportant. It's very important! If Americans can’t even answer basic questions about this country’s past, how can they understand how to vote in elections, or what this country’s principles consist of? And I have to agree that the way history is taught in school makes it a b-o-r-i-n-g subject.

However, with a college education costing as much as $40,000 per year, shouldn’t we expect that students will acquire basic knowledge in history? Shouldn’t we even expect them to learn some of it in middle and high school? Or is it asking too much of our education system to provide even minimal history lessons? And shouldn't history lessons be more interesting than memorizing dates and names?

If you’ve ever needed a good reason to read a history book with your kids, this is it. And if you want a good, interesting, intelligent book that the entire family will enjoy (yes, I said enjoy), then the book I’ve just written should fill the bill. When I wrote the book, I had already seen a study that claimed young adults were graduating without basic knowledge of history. And I had seen evidence, since some of the young, otherwise intelligent people I have known couldn’t remember hearing about important events that have happened even in their lifetimes!

One day I realized that history needed to be put in a format that would entertain as well as inform so that students and adults would actually enjoy learning. So, I gathered a group of people to help me tell the story of the history we have lived through.

The ’40s to today have been some of the most amazing times in history. We’ve seen everything from racism to rockets, from counterculture to conservatism, from a Cold War to terrorists attacking our country on our own soil. We who have written this book have a lot of history under our belts, since we’ve witnessed most of it via television. Some of us were even present at the scene as it was happening.

Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ’40s to the Present is presented in a friendly, readable format that is anything but boring. Oh, the facts are there, and were double- and triple-checked for accuracy, but instead of emphasizing dates and names, it reveals the tragedy of the bad times as well as the triumphs of the amazing moments. It puts a human face to events, and shares the emotions of ordinary citizens living through extraordinary times.

We must all understand the role history plays in our nation’s amazing moments as well as recognize and understand its mistakes. And everyone needs to learn our country's heritage, or else it will be forgotten. And that will be a sad day for the future of our great nation!