Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Information Overload
I enjoyed "Battle Cry of Freedom" but in some cases I almost fell asleep because of all the numbers the author talked about. I enjoy books that give a good story while talking about facts and this book had all the good facts but lacked on a good story. When it came to the battles it was brief and to the point but it did not talk about the personal side of many of the people involved. I know I will get criticized for feeling this way but don't get me wrong, it is an excellent book for us history teachers because we should know the numbers. I just would not want to read it again unless I needed to do some research.
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I have also been overwhelmed by it. I was reading it faithfully up to the first three quarters but I had to put it aside for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI marked the book up a lot and kept a note book with me. It is not a book you can simply knock out in a few days that it for sure!
ReplyDeleteI started to take a lot of notes - trying to be extra detailed - but like you, I found it to be too much. I love the information, but I've never been a names, dates, and numbers kind-of guy. That kind-of stuff was what turned me off to history when I was younger. I admit I still don't find the specifics all that useful. Who really cares whether this battle took place in 1853 or 1883? What's important to me is the why and how. I like to understand the thoughts and motivations behind the events. I like the delve into the feelings, to try and put myself in their shoes. I don't need dates and numbers for that.
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