Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Storia comica degli Stati Uniti
Go deeper: the whole of Storia comica degli Stati Uniti
About 3 h 40 min to read.A chi è rivolto
This book suits readers who like history told with a grin, fans of satire and newspaper humor, and anyone who wants the main outline of American events along with the voice of a Gilded Age wit.
Che cos’è questo libro
Facts are real, says Bill Nye, but they should be dressed in good clothes before they meet the public. That joke opens Comic History of the United States, written in the early 1890s by the newspaper humorist, with cartoons by Frederick Opper. The book runs from the voyage of Columbus to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Nye tells it in a mock-serious voice, inventing absurd details and borrowing lines from real speeches. Behind the fun sit real events and dates. Let us begin where Nye does, with a queen at confession.
In questo riassunto
- 1Facts need dressing before companyFree
- 2Columbus and the other discoverers
- 3Colonies, Pilgrims and Puritans
- 4New York, the Middle Colonies and the South
- 5Colonial wars and the man Washington
- 6Franklin and the road to revolution
- 7Independence, Valley Forge and a new republic
- 8War, expansion and the road to division
- 9Peace, politics and Nye's own opinions
Punto chiave 1 di 9
Facts need dressing before company
Nye starts with a short preface. He says facts are like children. They are not guilty of anything for being born bare, but a responsible adult should dress them up.
He and Opper, the artist, claim to respect facts. They simply want them embellished. History, in his view, is the record of public acts by people who ate and possibly drank.
This sets the rules of the whole book. Nye keeps the skeleton of events but changes the flesh. Real names and dates sit beside invented dialogue and made-up reference books.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of Storia comica degli Stati Uniti
About 3 h 40 min to read.Questions about Storia comica degli Stati Uniti
What is Comic History of the United States about?
It retells American history from Columbus to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair in a comic voice. Bill Nye covers explorers, colonies, the Revolution, the Civil War and Reconstruction, keeping real events and names while adding jokes and invented scenes.
Is Comic History of the United States a true history?
It follows real events, people and many dates, but Nye adds invented dialogue and absurd details for humor. It works best as a funny outline of the American story, read beside a standard history if you want exact facts.
When was Comic History of the United States written?
Nye wrote it in the early 1890s. It mentions the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Grover Cleveland's second term as current events, and Frederick Opper supplied the cartoons. Nye died in 1896.
Who illustrated Comic History of the United States?
The artist Frederick B. Opper drew the cartoons. Nye and Opper sign the preface together, and the pictures add visual jokes to scenes such as Columbus on deck, the Boston Tea Party and Franklin with his lightning key.
Is Comic History of the United States easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters. The chapters are short, the language is plain, and the jokes carry the reader from one event to the next. The chapters move from Columbus to the 1890s, with pauses for portraits and personal asides.
Cite this edition
Nye, Bill. Comic History of the United States. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/comic-history-of-the-united-states.
Nye, B. (2026). Comic history of the United States. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/comic-history-of-the-united-states (Original work published 1894)
Nye, Bill. Comic History of the United States. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/comic-history-of-the-united-states.
@book{nye2026comic,
author = {Nye, Bill},
title = {Comic History of the United States},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/comic-history-of-the-united-states},
note = {First published 1894}
}