America's yesterdays: Images of our lost past discovered in the photographic archives of the Library of Congress

It's truly wonderful to see such a vast collection of high quality snapshots of America's past. This collection from the files of the Library of Congress makes the viewer of the book feel like they were really there when the photographs were taken. My own feeling for the pictures was that they were like the source material for the "Saturday Evening Post's" legendary illustrator Norman Rockwell. The photographs are simply amazing, extraordinary, and in some cases almost unbelievable. Maybe they are too nostalgic, but they also capture some of the less flattering parts of American History. Take for instance the surreal double-page spread of a 1925 Ku Klux Klan parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. It was taken near the White House and the U.S. Capital dome is clearly visible in the background. What makes it surreal is that thousands of people are watching an endless river of Klansman dressed in white sheets marching 40 across waving flags and accompanied by their own marching bands. The river of white flowed the entire length between the White House and Capitol. The KKK members in the parade numbered more than 40,000. Gawking parade viewers filled the sidewalks twenty rows deep and stared in disbelief of what they were seeing in the land of the free. While this is the example that most shocked me when I first read the book, I was charmed by the scenes of family life, portraits of famous people, Americans at work, people relaxing and having fun in all sorts of picturesque ways. This is definitely a nostalgic look at America's Past. I suspect it is only the tip of an iceberg as far as the gold mine of historic photographs that are housed in the recesses of the Library of Congress. As far as I'm concerned, I'm very grateful to Oliver Jensen for gathering this material together and sharing some of with the general public. Otherwise few of us would have even known that the resource was there waiting to be tapped. I doubt that many people could pick up this beautifully done coffee-table book and resist the urge to thumb through it looking at the candid images of all our ancestors, including Native Americans and every other ethic group that migrated to the United States. Just reading the book and examining the photographs gives the average person a candid peak into the nation's past. On a scale of ten, this book is definitely a ten and perhaps is off the scale. I can't image how it could be changed to make it better.