Recently, before setting out on a road trip, I stopped by the library for a handful of books on tape, invaluable companions on long drives.
With natural disasters following one after the other, the ongoing refugee crises in Europe and the steady stream of incoherence coming from the White House, the radio news shows these days are almost unbearable.
Last week, on “Morning Joe,” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman expressed the melancholy many feel.
“If America doesn’t lead, nobody leads; there is no other superpower out there who’s going to lead … I see a sense of depression … You know people like to make fun of America. We’re that naive country — we think every problem has a solution. But, deep down, around the world, a lot of people envy our optimism.
“American optimism makes the world go around and when we go dark and cynical as a country, that affects the mood of a lot of people out there who look to us and depend on us, particularly, for our defense of freedom.
“I think there are a lot of people who feel a sense of theft. Their idea of America is being taken away from them. I think that’s very depressing to a lot of people.”
As it happened, the audio books I checked out detail the exploits of two warrior heroes separated by about 3,000 years, Odysseus and George Washington (Homer’s “The Odyssey” and David McCullough’s “1776”).
Both are gripping tales that transport the listener (reader) to distant times and places. Both have central characters, who are clear thinking, brave and who, through their tenacity and depth of character, prevail. Both are good-news stories.
Several weeks ago I wrote about classicist Bob Wolverton at Mississippi State. No doubt it was his influence that induced me to pick up Homer’s epic poem, a multi-layered tale of adventure. “The Odyssey” is lyrical, gripping and filled with characters and places whose names you’ve heard all your life: Cyclops, Calypso, Sirens, Trojan Horse, Achilles.
“1776” is an account of what was the pivotal year of the American Revolution from the battlefield perspective. McCullough offers detailed portraits of Washington, King George III and British Gen. William Howe. His Washington is a flesh-and-blood human — with human failings — not the character so often deified in high-school textbooks.
As leader of the Continental Army, Washington’s strengths were his ability to recognize and trust untested talent, manage through consensus and inspire his troops through his eloquence and physical courage. He was not a good battlefield strategist, and he was often indecisive. But he was unwavering in his devotion to the cause of independence and, when desperate circumstances demanded it, daring.
His ragtag (and partially shoeless) army’s surprise attack on Hessians — German mercenaries — at Trenton, New Jersey, the morning after Christmas Day, 1776, makes for a thrilling — and inspiring — story. Washington’s bold move restored a depleted morale, turned the tide of the war and inspired the French to come to the aid of the Colonists.
Britain was the reigning superpower of the day. That an untrained army of rebellious bumpkins would provide the least bit of resistance was unthinkable to the British. Howe, more than once, could have ended the war with aggressive follow-up to victories, especially in New York where Washington’s indecision and miscalculations proved to be almost fatal.
All said, “1776” is a compelling, detailed account of the beginnings of our nation, which has continued to be a light for the rest of the world. We owe an incalculable debt to those men and women who persevered against impossible odds to give us a country where we can worship, speak and do as we please.
The lessons from this bit of history are many. The most obvious, perhaps, is how the hubris of the British, the reigning superpower of the time, made them blind to the futility of conducting an overseas war against a determined people. It’s a history lesson I’m afraid we’ve yet to learn.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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