Sunday, December 7, 2014

The American Catholic Almanac - Burch & Stimpson

The American Catholic Almanac
 A Daily Reader of Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed the United States
by Brian Burch and Emily Stimpson



Synopsis
WHAT DO BUFFALO BILL , JOHN F. KENNEDY, VINCE LOMBARDI , DOROTHY DAY, FULTON SHEEN, AND ANDY WARHOL HAVE IN COMMON? 
They’re all Catholics who have shaped America. In this page-a-day history, 365 inspiring stories celebrate the historic contributions of American men and women shaped by their Catholic faith. From famous figures to lesser-known saints and sinners, The American Catholic Almanac tells the fascinating, funny, uplifting, and unlikely tales of Catholics’ influence on American history, culture, and politics. Spanning the scope of the Revolutionary War to Notre Dame football, this unique collection of stories highlights the transformative role of the Catholic Church in American public life over the last 400 years.

Did you know…
• The first immigrant to arrive in America via Ellis Island was a 15-year-old Irish Catholic girl?
• Al Capone’s tombstone reads “MY JESUS MERCY”?
• Andrew Jackson credited America’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans to the prayers of the Virgin Mary and the Ursuline Sisters?
• Five Franciscans died in sixteenth-century Georgia defending the Church’s teachings on marriage?
• Jack Kerouac died wanting to be known as a Catholic and not only as a beat poet?
• Catholic missionaries lived in Virginia 36 years before the English settled Jamestown?
----------------

This is a really easy, fun, interesting daily reader.  Each entry is just a page in length. Each day, you get to read a nice short, entertaining story.  I personally want to know more about a lot of the folks in the book and will eventually read more on them.  But I like that I get just a small tidbit about so many people.

For some folks, this may be the perfect amount of information on the individuals in the book.  For others, it may be too short.  For me (and hopefully a lot of you), it's a nice introduction and gives me great ideas for future reading projects.



I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.