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All Our Yesterdays: A Century of Family Life in an American Small Town Hardcover – January 1, 1993

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

Examines 150 years of the social life and customs of a small New England town through letters and other documents belonging to the family that built and lived in the authors' house in Hampton, Connecticut
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Historian James Oliver Robertson ( American Myth, American Reality ) and novelist Janet C. Robertson ( Journal Home ), a married couple, bought a sprawling old house in the northeastern Connecticut town of Hampton in the mid-1960s; several years later they began to learn its history when a former owner gave them a cache, spanning 150 years, of letters and other papers concerning the house's former inhabitants. That "treasure trove" inspired this narrative, a spirited reconstruction of work, diet, courtship and town life in the 19th century. Revealing citations from documents like the ribald letters of a young man ca. 1820 and an 1860s Yale student's meticulous account of school expenses, including cocaine, afford lively and surprising perspectives. The Robertsons sometimes step back for a larger picture: they suggest the vigor of the mid-19th-century town as the churches became separate from political life and cosmopolitanism filtered in through letters from travelers in Europe. They also reflect on their own deepening involvement with Hampton and conclude happily that they could acquire "roots in a past that did not seem to belong to us." Illustrations not seen by PW. $25,000 ad/promo; BOMC alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After buying an old house in Connecticut, the Robertsons--James, an academic, and Janet, an author--discovered that their home had been owned by only one family since it was built in the 1790s. Through papers, love letters, books, visiting cards, and travel records they have been able to reconstruct the history of America through the lives of the previous owners. A captivating narrative portrays this microcosm of life; we are able to share in the shaping of American history as we know it today. The unique aspect of this book is that history is told through the lives of the people who lived through it. We share the everyday lives of everyday people as they define and shape what is to become an integral part of our national past. Recommended for all libraries.
- Barbara Zaborowski, Cambria Cty. Lib., Johnstown, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0060190175
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harpercollins; First Edition (January 1, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780060190170
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060190170
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.08 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 1.75 x 9.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

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James Oliver Robertson
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023
    Nice family story.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2014
    This book was absolutely horribly written. It's the first book that I have ever "not" finished. It seemed like this book just wasn't edited by a professional and all the weird wording just kept throwing me off. Plus, it didn't read like a story, but more of a history textbook.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2014
    Fascinating details about all the generations of an American family from Colonial times to the 20th century. I particularly enjoyed reading about how historians find out about their subject.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2022
    Won't say this volume is a page-turner, but I am taking it slowly and loving it. It's beautifully written -- a joy to read. Letters quoted, farm bills, 150-year-old home renovation bills, even shop inventories, speak of real people with their workaday lives, aspirations, joys, and heartbreak. The more you read of the family's and their neighbors' various paths, the more involved with them you become, and the more you care about them. Above all, the family's house, still standing, bears witness to over two-hundred years of history -- and no longer mute. A really wonderful book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2014
    For a reader interested in nineteenth-century life in a small New England town, 'All Our Yesterdays' was very interesting reading.
    For a historian interested in Hampton, CT, it is a treasure trove of local history information drawn from a huge manuscript collection.
    Better yet, it provides clues to the mass of manuscripts that could not be more fully explored in the book due to space limitations.
    'All Our Yesterdays' is a valuable source book for researchers interested in Connecticut history.