WITNESSING AMERICA: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BOOK OFFIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS OF LIFE IN AMERICA, 1600-1900 , compiled and edited by Noel Rae (Penguin Reference, 573 pages, $29.95).
Culled from the collections of the Library of Congress, this unique volume contains an extraordinary collection of firsthand accounts that detail the lives of Americans over the course of three centuries. It is, says the editor, “a history of the American people, told by themselves.” Through an eclectic collection of Indian lore, private diaries, letters, travel journals, memoirs, sermons, speeches, and excerpts from literary classics, Americans from every class, region, occupation,and background, as well as visitors to the United States, describe aspects of American life from their unique vantage points. The selections are divided into 11categories that treat the arrival of the Europeans in the New World from the point of view of both the indigenous population and the newcomers; education;courtship and marriage; earning a living; housing; eating habits; leisure time activities; religion; crime and punishment; health; and death.
