Friday, December 31, 2010

Book Review: The Portable Patriot edited by Joel J. Miller and Kristen Parrish

The Portable Patriot is a collection of the most important and influential documents, speeches and sermons from the early years of the United States of America. It features 63 different items, including The Mayflower Compact, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, The Constitution, and The First Inaugural Address of George Washington.

I am a middle school Social Studies teacher, so I found this book to be an excellent resource. While teaching American History from the years of the Pilgrims up to the years of our first presidents, all I have to do is go to this book to find all the primary sources I need. All of the content is original and authentic to our nation’s history. The book is organized chronologically into five sections, Beginnings, Pre-Revolution, Revolution, Founding, and Republic, so it is very easy to know where to look to find a specific document. Also included are a Table of Contents and an index, making this perfect for any academic courses.

The Portable Patriot is a very small book, making it indeed portable. It is a sturdy hardback that can easily fit into a handbag and would be a great addition to purchase for American history courses. However, the small size of this book is a disadvantage to me as a teacher. I would not want to make copies for my students because the font is small.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher by participating in the blogger review program from BookSneeze. I did not receive any other compensation. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinion here is my own.