Proclaim Liberty!

Seldes, Gilbert, 1893-1970Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 368K words
Chapters: 37

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.Proclaim Liberty! by Gilbert SeldesAuthor: Seldes, Gilbert, 1893-1970,Language: English, Class: E151: History: America: United States, Release Date: Jan 8, 2011

Editor's review

This book is by the American cultural critic Gilbert Seldes, prepared by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain e-book. It falls under American history, and the title "Proclaim Liberty!" itself carries a strong public-expression charge, directing readers to how the idea of liberty unfolded in the American historical context. Seldes long worked in cultural and media criticism, and his writing tends not to be content with listing historical facts but cares more about how ideas are told, transmitted, and debated; the book is therefore better read as a historically inflected cultural essay with an argumentative temper than as a plain chronicle of events. Readers unfamiliar with the contours of American history may need background material to fully understand the names, events, and quotations; but for those willing to read slowly and trace the concept of liberty longitudinally, it offers a text worth returning to. The electronic edition is easily obtained and suits thematic reading or course extension material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in American history and political-cultural ideas
Students needing public-domain English historical sources for course extension reading
Readers who enjoy understanding historical narrative from a cultural-criticism angle
Those wishing to do thematic reading centered on the idea of liberty

Not a good fit for

Beginners expecting a systematic general-history textbook or timeline narrative
Readers who want only light stories and are unwilling to engage argumentative prose
Those who need a Chinese translation and are not used to reading English originals

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and preface first to see which historical facets the author selects around the concept of liberty.
Keep a sheet recording recurring names and events, and review the argumentative thread after finishing.
Mark quotations or historical allusions and check their background after finishing a chapter.
Read alongside chapters of a general American history to avoid treating the author's view as the only interpretation.

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 complete general history?

No. Judging by the title and the author's background, it is closer to a historical-cultural discussion built around the idea of liberty than a chronological general history. It should be read as a thematic volume carrying the author's views; readers needing a general framework should use a basic textbook alongside it.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

The author wrote in an earlier era, with fairly formal sentence structures and references to American historical figures and events. Readers with college-level English and basic American history will find it smoother; if the background is unfamiliar, check as you read or start with an introductory Chinese book on American history.

Why is background reading recommended?

Because in discussing the idea of liberty the book cites specific historical figures, documents, and debates that are not self-evident to Chinese readers unfamiliar with the American historical context. Background material reduces misreading and makes it easier to distinguish fact from the author's interpretation.

Comments

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About the author

Seldes, Gilbert, 1893-1970 Author · American · 1893–1970

Gilbert Seldes (1893–1970) was an American journalist and cultural critic. Throughout his life he paid attention to popular art and emerging media, especially to how these fields shaped public taste and cultural judgment. His representative work, Proclaim Liberty!, centers on the theme of liberty and reflects his approach of writing for general readers and bringing serious issues into public discussion. As far as the available material shows, public information about the details of his life is limited, and only one of his works is held in this collection, making it difficult to sketch a fuller picture of his writing; nonetheless, his concerns and the title of his work suggest a critic committed to connecting cultural criticism with popular experience.