Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Germans have a word "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" which means "coming to terms with the past," specifically, coming to terms with the Nazi past from 80 years ago. This book is about America's need to come to terms with its own slave-holding past, starting 400 years ago. The Germans have done a pretty good job of confronting the past. But the Americans, alas, haven't done so well. The book makes for absorbing (if sometimes uncomfortable) reading because of the way it's organized, as a travelogue of sorts. Instead of a general survey or historical narrative, the author goes places and tells us about some locations which are sites for tourism or pilgrimage, and how these places tell the story about the country's relationship to chattel slavery. The country often tells the story in a distorted way, but there are signs of hope in some places. The travel starts at the Monticello Plantation, a title which is itself just a little unnerving, since we don't usually think of Monticello as a plantation, but of course that's exactly what it was. The book is about a lot of the things that we don't hear about in school, even in the North. I found the account of these locations fascinating, with a new insight on almost every page. What's under the feet of the Statue of Liberty? And why isn't it visible from the ground? Hmm...