Nine Reads for Independence Day (Top Ten Tuesday)

Today’s Top 10 Tuesday list is books with Red, White, and Blue covers, but since I don’t really care about the color of the covers, I thought I’d write about Books to Read on Independence Day instead.  These books make me feel blessed to live in the United States or make me feel patriotic for one reason or another.  They’re in no particular order.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I read A Patriot’s History of the United States, by Larry Schweiker, a long time ago.  I do remember that it was really good, and I still have it.  Someday, I might read it again.

It’s a fairly large book (1000 pages, I think), so you’re not going to read it in one day, but if you’re looking for a pretty good history book of the United States, this is one that I recommend. It covers the time period from Columbus’s discovery of the Americas to the recent present.

I actually didn’t throw in Legend because I think it’s a wonderful book series (although I do think it’s wonderful); there’s actually a reason why I picked this. It’s the one completely fictional book on this list (I thought about Divergent, but that one is set so far into the future that it loses most of its ties to the United States as it is now). The book is set in California in the year 2131. The United States government is no more, and the government that has come to replace it is corrupt. Reading this book makes me thankful for our own government, even though it has it’s own share of problems. It also reminds me of what Benjamin Franklin said when someone asked him what kind of government the people at the Constitutional Convention came up with: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Even though the government in Legend is called The Republic, it’s nothing like a republic should be. If the people of the United States continue to bicker and can’t get along, we might end up with a government like this. ::shudder::

If Never Stop Walking doesn’t make you thankful to be living in the United States (if that’s where you live) or in a safe country where you don’t fear for your life, I don’t know what will.  As a child, this lady literally watched her good friend get shot by corrupt police because her friend was a poor street child.  There are probably still places where this is going on to this day.  Last month, there was an uproar about how the United States is separating children from their parents (which is terrible) but as far as I know, they’re not shooting them.  The US does have its problems, but things aren’t this bad, yet (again, a Republic, if you can keep it).

The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic, by Michael Medved, tells of all the amazing “coincidences” that took place in the shaping of the American Republic.  The book contains several stories about miracles that occurred in the history of the United States.  There were miracles in play that led to the pilgrims survival, the survival of George Washington’s army, the freeing of the slaves, and more.  Even if you’re fairly well-versed in American history, there may be something in this book that you’re not familiar with.

The Heavenly Man, by Brother Yun, is a book that makes me happy to live in the United States today.  Brother Yun was thrown into prison because of his beliefs, and didn’t even have access to a Bible as a kid (he prayed for a Bible and one miraculously came).  Freedom to believe in whatever way you want can sometimes cause strife in this country, but I do hope that we can allow people to follow their conscience, even if we disagree.  If we live by the attitude of “I wholly disapprove of what you say and will defend to the death your right to say it” maybe we would be better off.  Whether that quote was originally made by Voltaire, Patrick Henry, or someone else, doesn’t matter, the sentiment is good.  I would think that the sentiment should also apply to freedom to live according to your dictates (as long as they’re not hurting anybody).

It’s a shame that The Five Thousand Year Leap isn’t available in print any more (it’s still available in ebook form though).  The founding fathers didn’t just pull their ideas out of their butts… the ideas behind the United States republic had been fomenting in civilization for thousands of years before they were put into practice.  The ideas that were put into the Constitution changed the world.  I recommend this book if you are interested in finding out how revolutionary and amazing the concepts behind the founding of the US really are.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy is one of the three books on this list that center on Nazi Germany during World War II.  World War II was such a traumatic period in our world’s recent history, and its lessons should not be forgotten.  Bonhoeffer could have saved himself; he was living in the United States after he knew about the dangers that Hitler presented, but he went back to Germany anyway.  His courage is inspirational even today.  We could use more people that will see evil for what it is and still have the courage to speak out against it.

I believe that In the Garden of Beasts is slightly fictional, but it’s based on real events.  This is the second book of the three set in Nazi Germany.  It’s important to know what the world was like as Adolph Hitler came into power, because it’s not something that we want to see again.  This book is about an American ambassador and his family that were living in Nazi Germany as Hitler rose to power.  It’s amazing to see how the transformation took place.  I read it once, but I’ll probably read this one again someday.

Defying Hitler, a memoir by Sebastian Haffner, is the third Nazi Germany book on this list.  This book is powerful because it is a first-hand account of someone that lived through the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler.  It is unfinished, because Haffner moved out of Germany before things got too bad and never managed to finish the book, but his recollections of what happened to his friends and even his time in a Nazi propaganda camp are worth reading.  It’s a shame that he didn’t end up writing more.

So here are nine books to read if you want to feel a little glad to be living in the United States today (and several of these are good reads if you don’t live in the US but live in modern society).