Does this seem counterintuitive? I’m currently reading The Story of America, by Hendrik van Loon, published in 1927. First edition, too, I think. Why? Because I wanted to get a perspective on American history from nearly 80 years ago. This was a time when the booming Roaring Twenties were in full swing, before the Great Depression and World War II, when there was only one “Great War” and there were still people alive that had lived through the Civil War.

This wasn’t a planned excursion, mind you; I’d had this book on my shelf for quite awhile (I probably picked it up at a garage sale or a thrift store for cheap) and picked it up when I was looking for something to read.

On the whole, though, it’s an interesting and engaging read. Being written in 1927, it’s still under copyright for a few more years, but I’ve noticed that Hendrik van Loon’s earlier book The Story of Mankind (1921) is available on Gutenberg. Perhaps I’ll convert it to a Palm ebook.