Smart History for Idiots
Ray Raphael’s new book on the Founding Fathers
(May 5, 2011) Southern Humboldt historian Ray Raphael has always offered a “people’s” take on history. It started with his first book, An Everyday History of Somewhere, published in 1974, in which he told “the true story of Indians, deer, homesteaders, potatoes, loggers, trees, fishermen, salmon, and other living things in the backwoods of northern California.”
Ten years ago Harper Collins published Raphael’s People’s History of the American Revolution, launching a “People’s History” series that expanded on Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States. More recently, he collaborated with Freeman House on Two Peoples, One Place, a new take on the history of Humboldt County.
His latest book is not what you might expect. Alpha, a division of Penguin Books, has just published Raphael’s TheComplete Idiot’s Guide to the Founding Fathers and the Birth of Our Nation.
Like the For Dummies… series, The Complete Idiot’s Guides offer simplified takes on complex topics.
“I never knew anything about the Dummies or the Idiot’s guides, other than just what everyone else knows,” said Raphael. “I assumed they were about how to fix your Volkswagen or making wine, how to use your computer.
“I’d seen them in the history sections of chain bookstores, so I knew they had expanded to do history, kind of like CliffsNotes but not exactly, because they’re supposed to be kind of clever and engaging. They’re intended as entertainment as well as relaying information.”
When he was approached by the Idiot’s publishers, Raphael was “plugging away” researching and writing a book titled Inventing the American President. The narrative on the creation of the office of the presidency, from the Constitutional Convention through the administrations of Washington, Adams and Jefferson, details “how it all played out on the ground.”
“One of my chapter heads in my Idiot’s Guide is ‘The King Who is Not a King,’ which is kind of a summary of the presidency book,” said Raphael.
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent on the cover
May 17
Ring of Fire
Sun and moon will perform a rare pas de deux in Humboldt skies on Sunday
May 10
District Soup
Racing for the top county seat in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts
May 3
A Place in the Woods
As park closure deadline nears, a scramble to save what we can
Today
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
Woodside Preschool's Rummage/Bake Sale
events / 8 a.m.-noon. Woodside Preschool, 900 Hodgson St, Eureka. www.woodsidepreschool.com. 445-9132.
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
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ONE Comments
Comment / By ALAS / Today, 2:54 p.m.
“…It shows that there was in fact a radical presence at the founding, which is not usually acknowledged.”
Thus, perpetuating the myth of what’s “radical” in a world of failed empires….
Too bad the reporter hadn’t read the book.
Excerpts are much more interesting and informative.