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Reviewed by Michelle Gordon for Readers' Favorite
Out of the Past: Collected Essays on World and American History by Michael Murphy covers different historical subjects in two parts. The first section discusses world history, including Plato's thoughts on democracy, Augustine's philosophy of history, Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism, and how the Nazis came to power in Germany. Murphy also writes about Alexis de Tocqueville's observations on democracy and Boris Pasternak's opposition to Soviet literary control. The American history section starts with the Salem witch trials from the 1690s and continues through topics like transcendentalism, Alfred Mahan's sea power theories, and the Spanish-American War. The author ends with twentieth-century events, including anti-Semitism in 1940s America, Lend-Lease termination to the Soviet Union, and Watergate.
I liked reading the essays because they combined familiar topics with ones I had never heard about before. The writing was excellent and never got too academic or hard to follow. I learned a lot that I never knew before. For example, I had no clue that Kentucky invested heavily in private businesses during the 1800s until I read about it in this book. Also, Michael Sullivan's time in Parliament was completely new to me. The part on American history appealed to me more than that of world history because I saw the same kinds of problems coming up in different eras. I liked that each essay could be read as a standalone piece. I could pick out any essay I wanted, read it, and still understand it. Every essay taught me something new, and nothing felt repetitive because the topics changed so much. I recommend Out of the Past: Collected Essays on World and American History by Michael Murphy to anyone who loves to read about history.
