"The Historian's Wizard of Oz" synthesizes four decades of
scholarly interpretations of L. Frank BauM's classic children's
novel as an allegory of the Gilded Age political economy and a
comment on the gold standard. The heart of the book is an annotated
version of "The Wizard of Oz" that highlights the possible
political and monetary symbolism in the book by relating
characters, settings, and incidents in it to the historical events
and figures of the 1890s, the decade in which Baum wrote his story.
Dighe simultaneously values the leading political interpretations
of "Oz" as useful and creative teaching tools, and consolidates
them in a sympathetic fashion; yet he rejects the commonly held,
and by now well-debunked, view that those interpretations reflect
BauM's likely motivations in writing the book. The result is a
unique way for readers to acquaint themselves with a classic of
children's literature that is a bit different and darker than the
better-known film version.
Students of history and economics will find two great stories:
the dramatic rise and fall of monetary populism and William
Jennings Bryan and the original rendering of a childhood story that
they know and love. This study draws on several worthy versions of
the Oz-as-Populist-parable thesis, but it also separates the
reading of BauM's book in this manner from BauM's original
intentions. Despite an incongruence with BauM's intent, reading the
story as a parable continues to provide a remarkable window into
the historical events of the 1890s and, thus, constitutes a
tremendous teaching tool for historians, economists, and political
scientists. Dighe also includes a primer on gold, silver, and the
American monetary system, as well as a brief history of the
Populist movement.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
(6)
