These Truths Sparknotes

Jill Lepore's book, These Truths , is an attempt to portray the United States history from beginning to end. The novel discusses American laws, politics, important events, and people. Lepore took on the task of trying to fit all of the United States history in a book of only 932 pages. Jill Lepoore managed to get a good overview of all the important historical events while also adding some of her own opinions and ideas. These Truths is an exceptional piece of writing and it provides accurate and useful information on American history, while also still getting her perspective across. Jill Lepore is more than qualified for writing about America’s history. Lepore has a bachelor's degree in English literature from Tufts University, a masters degree

Although some critics believe Lepore has a strong liberal view that comes across, I agree with John S Gardener who writes “Lepore offers an unabashedly liberal perspective, but seeks to be scrumptiously fair to the modern conservative movement.” In most writing, especially when involving political parties, an author is going to have an opinion and I think Jill Lepore does an acceptable job of trying to include both sides in her writing. An example in the book of Jill Lepore bringing the conservative ideas into the writing is when Lepore used Fredick Douglass and Fredirck Turner’s opinions on the history of the nineteenth century. [353-358] In doing this Lepore is able to balance her more liberal opinions leaving readers with a more neutral version of America's

Some may disagree with having authors bring their own opinions into a mostly fact based writing, but I think being able to read about the writer's perspective on the subjects helps keep the readers more engaged. An example of when Jill Lepore adds her own thoughts in the book is when she writes “In one of the most wrenching tragedies in American history- a chronicle not lacking for tragedy- the Confederacy had lost the war, but it had won the peace.”[360] Lepore’s perspective on the topic helped create a more dramatic effect pulling readers in and keeping them entertained. Sometimes too much of an author's opinion can overpower the information trying to be portrayed but when there is a good balance between fact and belief, like in Jill Lepore's These Truths, it creates a writing that pulls people