The Anglo-Saxon Century and the Unification of the English-Speaking People

Dos Passos, John R. (John Randolph), 1844-1917Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8
Word count
402K words
Chapters
41

Tags

English Originals Politics Political VisionNational IdentityColonial ThemeIntellectual CommentaryWorld OrderBritish EmpireSocial ObservationNational UnificationAnglo-Saxon CenturyEnglish-Speaking Peoples

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Anglo-Saxon Century and the Unification of the English-Speaking PeopleAuthor: Dos Passos, John R. (John Randolph), 1844-1917,Language: English, Class: D: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere, Release Date: Mar 11, 2014

Editor's review

This book is a political-historical work written by John R. Dos Passos in the early twentieth century, discussing the Anglo-Saxon century and the vision of uniting the English-speaking peoples. Its value lies not in offering today's conclusions but in showing how intellectuals of a particular era imagined world order through the discourse of race, civilization, and empire. Readers can see the intellectual underpinnings of early twentieth-century discussions of Anglo-American relations and can also reflect on the political intentions and limitations behind the concept of the "English-speaking peoples." As a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to search and cite, making it suitable as supplementary material for intellectual history, imperial history, and the history of Anglo-American relations. Reading requires critical distance: place the author's arguments back in their historical context and distinguish historical fact from political vision. It is not a neutral general history but a strongly tendentious document of its time, and precisely for that reason it is especially useful to readers studying public opinion and ideology.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the introduction and conclusion first to grasp the author's core arguments, then return to the chapters to examine the mode of argumentation.
  2. Prepare a timeline and read the book's arguments against major Anglo-American events of the late nineteenth century.
  3. Mark racially and civilizationally hierarchical language as you read, as material for critical analysis.
  4. Read alongside a modern scholarly study of Anglo-Saxonism for comparison.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41

FAQ

Is this book historical research or political advocacy? It is both, but leans toward political advocacy. The author uses historical narrative as a framework to argue that the English-speaking peoples should unite, and the work carries a clear ideological coloring of its time. Read it as a document of intellectual history rather than as neutral factual statement, and distinguish the author's value judgments from verifiable historical events.
Can I read it without relevant background? You can, but it requires some patience. The book deals with late nineteenth-century Anglo-American relations, imperial expansion, and racial ideas; without background, it is easy to mistake the author's arguments for consensus. It is advisable to learn the basic historical facts of the period first and read with a critical perspective, checking unfamiliar organizations and events as you go.
What are the advantages of the e-book edition? This book comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain text, freely available and convenient for full-text searching, excerpting, and citation. It is especially handy for readers doing textual analysis or looking for specific formulations, and suitable for distributing excerpts in classroom discussion, though you should note the edition information and that the original language is English.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Dos Passos, John R. (John Randolph), 1844-1917 Author · American · 1844–1917

John R. Dos Passos (1844–1917) was an American lawyer and writer known for works of legal and political commentary, and he was the father of the novelist John Dos Passos. One of his works is held here: The Anglo-Saxon Century and the Unification of the English-Speaking People. Its title points to his interest in broad political themes such as the progress of the English-speaking peoples and the idea of uniting the English-speaking world, and his writing carries an argumentative, commentary-driven tone. Public information about his early life, educational activities and detailed career is limited, so these cannot be described with confidence; his writings are chiefly legal and political commentary rather than literary works, and they retain some value as historical material for discussion of these themes.