I’m a picky nonfiction reader. I’m also really interest in the enlightenment era, so I found 1789 fascinating.
Each chapter features a different individual’s story or event relating to the year, 1789. Although every chapter is written by a different author, their writing styles don’t differ as much as I thought they would. The language is digestible and interesting.
Most of my feedback is positive. There’s some really cool stuff in here. It’s fascinating how these events all link together with common themes of revolution and reform. I think my favorite chapter was on the Fishwives.
I’d encourage everyone to check this book out, but… this is a big but. I had an issue with the Sally Hemmings chapter: The Choice. This might be a personal bias, but I didn’t like how this story was presented. It was much more of a ‘did she love him or was she a slave?’ Rather than the obvious, she was groomed, gifted to a wealthy older widower who had recently been married to Sally’s deceased, white, half-sister. Why present her opportunity to stay in Paris as a choice?
This chapter states she was a teenager but presents Sally as being much older—she was only sixteen and pregnant. Probably scared witless and controlled by a powerful man. So what if Jefferson wasn’t a physically abusive owner? Words can cause just as much abuse as a whip. You cannot apply the word seduction to this sort of power dynamic. To ownership. I guess in this BLM/post-Me-too time I expected more out of this chapter. Aronson highlights the habit of fathering children with slaves as common, but I expected him to lay out the dynamics without playing so coy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, but would happily add this to my nonfiction library.

Really fascinating read focusing on one year of change rippling across different parts of the world, varying types of people, and diverse disciplines. It was incredible for me to read and see how the world was changing so drastically in that year. To think we take for granted the ability to know what is happening in far reaches and corners of the world and know they are connected because of technology; however, this book brought together a compilation of related and seemingly unrelated events and portrayed them from a bird’s eye view.

This is a perfect kind of book for young readers who want to learn more about history. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my classroom and using what I learned in my lessons.

I love anthologies, and this was no exception. The stories through history were so unique and I think there's something here for every type of reader.

This is a well written and researched work on Nonfiction bringing to light familiar historical faces and events that shaped history and are widely studied around the world,
However, this book pushes the reader to look and react differently to the new perspectives offered from new points of view.

A fascinating book set to challenge our knowledge and understanding of important rebellions in history.

Perfect for 12 + .

This book was an incredibly interesting read, exploring 12 completely different points of view on Rebellion, Revolution and Change during the 'creation' of what has become modern day America.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.