{"product_id":"longing-for-connection-entangled-memories-and-emotional-loss-in-early-america-hardcover","title":"Longing for Connection: Entangled Memories and Emotional Loss in Early America - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAndrew Burstein\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUntangling the private feelings, ambitions, and fears of early Americans through their personal writings from the Revolution to the Civil War.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eModern readers of history and biography unite around a seemingly straightforward question: What did it feel like to live in the past? In \u003ci\u003eLonging for Connection\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Andrew Burstein attempts to answer this question with a vigorous, nuanced emotional history of the United States from its founding to the Civil War. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough an examination of the letters, diaries, and other personal texts of the time, along with popular poetry and novels, Burstein shows us how early Americans expressed deep emotions through shared metaphors and borrowed verse in their longing for meaning and connection. He reveals how literate, educated Americans--both well-known and more obscure--expressed their feelings to each other and made attempts at humor, navigating an anxious world in which connection across spaces was difficult to capture. In studying the power of poetry and literature as expressions of inner life, Burstein conveys the tastes of early Americans and illustrates how emotions worked to fashion myths of epic heroes, such as the martyr Nathan Hale, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. He also studies the public's fears of ocean travel, their racial blind spots, and their remarkable facility for political satire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBurstein questions why we seek a connection to the past and its emotions in the first place. America, he argues, is shaped by a persistent belief that the past is reachable and that its lessons remain intact, which represents a major obstacle in any effort to understand our national history. Burstein shows, finally, that modern readers exhibit a similar capacity for rationalization and that dire longing for connection across time and space as the people he studies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Burstein\u003c\/b\u003e is the Charles P. Manship Professor of History (emeritus) at Louisiana State University. The author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eJefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Passions of Andrew Jackson\u003c\/i\u003e, he is also the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eMadison and Jefferson \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 392\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.4 x 8.5 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 23, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749026431264,"sku":"9781421448305","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/32e4b1092d73cc6edaeda26a2641521c.webp?v=1779923385","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/longing-for-connection-entangled-memories-and-emotional-loss-in-early-america-hardcover","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}