The Portable Patriot should be required reading for every elected politician from the President of the United States down to the mayor of a town of 50. To go even further, I would suggest that every household in the US have a copy of the Portable Patriot in their house.
Though Mr. Miller would like this to happen, I doubt it ever will. I am tempted, after reading it, to send a copy to the President and several of the elected politicians that “represent me”.
The Portable Patriot is a collection of documents, essays, letters and sermons from the revolutionary war era. Not only does the book include well known documents like “The Declaration of Independence”, “The Bill of Rights”, and “The Constitution”, but lesser known letters and sermons that are not normally included in most history classes. The documents chosen help to give the reader insight into what the people of that era were thinking, feeling, and going through. Reading the book brought many of the historical figures to life and made them more real to me.
Admittedly, much of this book is pretty dry reading. Most people will probably find it more of a reference book than something to read straight through. I initially skipped around in it and read the articles that sounded interesting. It was only after a few days of browsing that I forced myself to read straight through it. In contrast, a friend of mine who is a history buff said he had trouble putting the book down.
I highly recommend this book as well as Joel Miller’s other book – The Revolutionary Paul Revere.
The Portable Patriot by Joel Miller gets an easy 5 star rating!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Tags: 5 STARS, historical, Joel Miller