250 Years A History Of The United States – 1750-2000

About the Book

“This book, 250 YEARS, is an attempt on my part to tell the story of the United States for the final 250 years of the second millennium. The United States is a very fortunate country which began with a cluster of small colonies on the eastern coast of North America and, gifted by location, timing and circumstance, grew into the most powerful and successful nation in the world. “In my mind it is the story of the growth and maturation of a nation striving for perfection. I have deliberately terminated the tale at the close of the year 2000 because I believe it had come as close to excellence at that time as it ever had or likely would. It wasn’t perfection but in an imperfect world it was, perhaps, close enough … In terms of economic well-being, internal satisfaction and international respect, I believe that America reached its zenith at that time and has struggled ever since.”

About the Author

“When I was a kid, growing up in Toronto, Canada, I, like other kids I knew, saw everything in absolute terms. My mom was the nicest person in the neighborhood; my dad the smartest. The school I attended, which was just up our street, was the finest school in Toronto and Canada was the greatest country in the world. Maybe the only country. “As the months and years passed my scope widened. I learned about other countries and I learned that some of them were not very nice. Germany, Japan and Italy were nor very nice and I imagined them populated with rather shady people who wore black hats and sneered a lot. Russia was like that too and I came to think of all of them as enemy countries. “On the other hand there were some nice countries. Great Britain was a nice country. It owned much of the world, including Canada, and it was ruled by a man named King George. King George, I was told, was one of the finest kings that had ever ruled that country and we all adored him … Another nice country was our neighbor to the south, the United States of America. America was the truly blessed country. I saw it wearing a big white hat and a sheriff’s badge, carrying a large, pearl-handled six-shooter. And America was run by a kindly, smiling middle-aged man who always spoke of the good times that were coming. He bore the magical name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and I became fascinated by Mr. Roosevelt and his United States of America. “That fascination led me to read everything I could about America. All of my life I found myself reading books and articles about America and American public figures and now in the declining years of a rather long life I’ve determined to put the knowledge gained into book form and this book, 250 YEARS, is the result.”