The Iowa

Foster, Thomas, of Washington, D.C.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 193K words
Chapters: 20

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 Iowa by D.C. of Washington Thomas FosterAuthor: Foster, Thomas, of Washington, D.C.,Language: English, Class: E011: History: America: America, Release Date: Jun 9, 2012

Editor's review

The Iowa is a historical text about the American state of Iowa by Thomas Foster, released by Project Gutenberg as an English-language ebook. In cataloguing terms it belongs to the tradition of geographical and regional narrative within American history, concerning itself with one state's geography, development, and local character rather than with fiction. The value of such texts often lies not in literary quality but in their perspective as period documents: they record how an author of the time understood a piece of land, organized local knowledge, and introduced a region to outside readers. For readers studying the American Midwest, local historiography, or the regional-survey genre of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this book can serve as primary material. It is best treated as a historical source rather than a general history; note the author's narrative stance and selection of material, and compare it with other regional surveys or modern state histories to identify the marks of its era and the limits of its knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying local history and regional surveys of the American Midwest
Researchers needing nineteenth-century regional narrative texts as historical sources
General readers interested in American state-level geography and historical writing
Library professionals engaged in organizing and studying local documents and editions

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking the latest contemporary data on Iowa
Readers expecting literary narrative or travel essays
Classroom users needing a systematic general-history textbook with teaching materials

Reading tips

First review the publishing-era background, then judge the source value of the book's information
Compare with modern Iowa history and note differences in data and viewpoints
Excerpt geographical and administrative information chapter by chapter to build reading notes
Attend to the author's narrative stance, distinguishing factual description from period bias

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.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a historical work?

According to Project Gutenberg's classification, the book falls under American history and is a regional historical narrative, not a work of fiction. Readers should treat it as a local history or regional survey and focus on its geographical, developmental, and social descriptions rather than expecting a plot.

Is the information in the book still accurate today?

Early regional surveys like this reflect the knowledge and data of their time; administrative divisions, population, and social conditions may have changed since. Read it as a historical document and check specific data against modern sources rather than using it directly as contemporary reference.

Is it suitable for direct use in classroom teaching?

It can be used in selected excerpts as a primary source, but it is not suitable as a general-history textbook. It lacks the systematic framework and updated annotations modern teaching requires; teachers who adopt it should supply background material and guide students in recognizing its period perspective and the limits of its material.

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About the author

Foster, Thomas, of Washington, D.C. Author

Foster, Thomas, of Washington, D.C., is an author about whom limited public information is available; the only confirmed identifying detail is the Washington, D.C. residence indicated in his name. The library holds one work by him, The Iowa. In the absence of records on his life, nationality, or dates of birth and death, his full profile as a writer cannot be reconstructed, but the available clue suggests that the book concerns the state of Iowa, and may address its geography, history, or social and cultural life. Writing of this kind, focused on a Midwestern American state, often combines the documentary quality of local history with narrative prose and attends closely to specific regional experience. On the present evidence, his style and influence cannot be fully assessed, and readers may turn to the work itself for a clearer sense of his authorial orientation.