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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication “can't-wait-to-read” selection is:
The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah 
Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture by Joshua Kendall
Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture by Joshua Kendall synopsis from the publisher:
American's own The Professor and the Madman: a story of Noah Webster, author of American English. Noah Webster's name is now synonymous with the dictionary he created, but his story is not nearly so ubiquitous. Webster hobnobbed with various Founding Fathers and was a young confidant of George Washington and Ben Franklin. He started America's first daily newspaper, predating Alexander Hamilton's New York Post. His "blue-backed speller" for schoolchildren sold millions of copies and influenced early copyright law. But perhaps most important, Webster was an ardent supporter of a unified, definitively American culture, distinct from the British, at a time when the United States of America were anything but unified-and his dictionary of American English is a testament to that.
Publishing April 14th 2011 by Putnam Adult
7 comments:
This book looks really interesting, I will be putting it on my TBR list.
Ooh, fascinating -- never thought about the radical possibilities of American vs British English 'back then' -- thanks for highlighting this book!
Sounds very interesting, thanks! for sharing.
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I don't read much non-fiction, but this one sounds quite interesting. Thanks for sharing!
ooh, looks like a good one. In all honesty though, Webster is mentioned in almost every history book/biography I read about the American Revolution.
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I hope that when you get your book, it is everything you hope it to be. Check out what I am Waiting On Wednesday for. Happy Reading.
You know, I had no idea that Webster was a contemporary of the Founding Fathers; for some reason I thought he lived in the 19th Century. Ah, my poor sense of history!
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