Rövid leírás:
Through a series of deftly-rendered vignettes, prominent historian Jenna Weissman Joselit offers a compelling and fresh-eyed perspective on the Ten Commandments, situating them within the context of modern America.
Több
Hosszú leírás:
The Ten Commandments need no introduction. In fact, we probably think we know all there is to know about these divine dos and don’ts. But as this imaginative and vivid account reveals, there is a lot more to this ancient biblical code than Moses and Mount Sinai. Situating the Ten Commandments within the context of modern America, prominent historian and engaging story-teller Jenna Weissman Joselit takes the reader from Indian burial mounds in 19th-century Ohio to the sand dunes of 1920s California and into the civic squares of the 1950s to reveal the centrality of the Ten Commandments to the nation’s identity.
Rich in incident and story and inhabited by a lively cast of characters whose ranks include forgers and filmmakers, architects and archaeologists, ordinary citizens and politicians, this book compels us to take another look at the Ten Commandments and see them afresh. Through a series of deftly-rendered vignettes, this compelling account recasts the cultural impact of the Ten Commandments in American society not as a legal code or theological imperative, but as a physical, material, and visual phenomenon. We come away with the understanding that they are not cast in stone but a fertile repository of American history.
Joselit’s style and prose are accessible and engaging, especially for popular audiences and undergraduate classrooms … [this book is] notable for bridging the wide gap between academic and general audiences, and it is exemplary in its attempt to tell a series of „tautly told tales” in which physical manifestations of the Ten Commandments provoked immense discussion and controversy.
Több
Tartalomjegyzék:
Introduction
Chapter 1: Species Humbug
Chapter 2: The Ultimate To-Do List
Chapter 3: Good Neighbors
Chapter 4: Special Effects
Chapter 5: Take Two
Conclusion: Pedigree
Bibliographic Essay
Acknowledgments
Index
