Review: Keep the Dream Alive
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2013
To celebrate the 4th of July, I purchased this book.  It was very interesting to read the actual text of the documents I studied in school, and reading the texts adding a lot of meaning to my holiday celebration.Yes, I could have read all of these documents for free by searching for the texts on-line.  The National Archives, for example, has a very nice website.  But having all of these documents in one place seemed quite handy.  Reading the documents, with the original misspellings, was very interesting.  (Note that there are not any illustrations included in this book despite the company's reference to illustrations in some of their products on the product description page.  The book does, however, have a very nice interactive table of contents.)One thing I miss, however, is an analysis of each of the documents, along with an explanation of HOW and WHY the documents shaped and influenced America. Luckily, with the Internet, I can quickly research to obtain that information.  (The National Archives website has some excellent information.)  For the price of 99 cents, the book makes a good place to begin a study of the ideas that shaped a great nation.Since this is a book with the great document and speeches that, "Built America," I was surprised the text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s influential "I Have a Dream" speech was not included.  I cannot think of a speech that more clearly represents and defines the American people of today, and I am very disappointed it was not included.  For this reason, I've deducted a star from the rating.