A book of biographies about living american

Living books are most often associated with the Charlotte Mason methodology. But all homeschoolers – and all children, for that matter – benefit from using living books in their education journey. 

I consider us an eclectic homeschooling family, pulling from each methodology what we consider to be the best resources or those that my children enjoy most. Living books are one of those resources.

(Learn more about Charlotte Mason methodology and how it compares to other homeschool methods.)

What Are Living Books?

According to Charlotte Mason’s website, a book must meet a list of criteria to be considered a living book. These criteria are:

1. The book must be written by an author who is considered an expert and/or is passionate about the subject. Or it may be written by someone who has experienced the story first hand.
2. The text must be well written – no “twaddle” allowed! This means that there should

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   Living biographies of famous Americans,

   November 3, 2022

   
   (Portuguese/Brazilian edition)
   
   This was my 2021 summer read, by the seaside. Henry Thomas Schnittkind did a great job. Most impressive, to me, was his biography of Thomas Paine, who had a, somehow, poignant life.
   
   Henry Thomas gives important clues on how to define the "homo americanus". One of them, for sure, is that, in some of the biographies approached, the characters were born abroad*. But then, too, all of the men under analysis were born in the 18th or 19th century.
   
   How one would define the 21st century "homo americanus" is an interesting question to raise in these days**. Some of the men in Henry Thomas' list would be shunned by today's standards, or ideologies. "Greedy" John Rockefeller or General Robert E. Lee, for example:
   
   
   
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   Thomas Paine (born in England)
   John Paul Jones (born in Scotland)
   Alexander Bell (born in Scotland)
   John Jakob Astor (born in Germany)
   Joseph Pulitzer (born in Hungary)
   
   **
   What IS Ame
3. 

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Herringshaw's American Blue-Book Of Biography; Prominent Americans Of 1914; Thirty Thousand Living Biographies

Fine and unusual first editions and out of print books in all categories. Original photographs, Fine antiquarian and other original prints, paintings, drawings and watercolors. Motion picture and television scripts. Ephemera, Manuscripts and autographs. In business on the internet since 1999. Open bygd appointment only, in Pasadena, California.

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Arroyo Seco Books, Pasadena, Member IOBA
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