Year of the Horseless Carriage: 1801

In Genevieve Foster’s inimitable style, she brings to life the dawn of the 19th century with all its wonderful advancements in transportation, communication, and technology! This is the age of Napoleon, Jefferson, Toussaint, Livingston, Robert Fulton, Richard Trevithick, Beethoven, Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, Dolley Madison and many others. While the world of technology is progressing rapidly, human rights and liberty are variously being trampled or rising. The megalomaniac Napoleon is proclaiming “liberty, equality, and fraternity” to a war-weary Europe, Jefferson is contemplating the largest land purchase in the history of the world, and Toussaint L’Ouverture is fighting for liberty in Haiti, while Robert Livingston, Robert Fulton, Richard Trevithick, Beethoven, Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, and Dolley Madison are all playing their parts. Foster’s use of “horizontal history”, weaves these stories together by delightful retellings and whimsical illustrations. In this memorable retelling, youthful readers will come to appreciate why Foster was convinced that “history is drama.