This was a memorable Memorial Day weekend for our family. We were the beneficiaries of the incomparable hospitality of the Hinderakers and Johnsons in sunny Minnesota. We held a 20-minute editorial board meeting in the Johnsons’ swimminng pool, and spent significantly more time coming up with the 21 candidates for greatest American novel, though the critics of the list probably won’t believe it.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of Memorial Day let us recognize, as Suzanne Fields does, the need to “rescue our schoolchildren — and many of their parents — from the amnesia depriving them of our endlessly fascinating history.” This is where non-fiction must play its part, and a good place to start is with The Last Best Hope, William Bennett’s new history of America.
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