The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Thomas Jefferson’

I am not a history buff. I do not particularly like history. But history has an important place because it helps us to put things in context. It helps us to better understand the innovative thinkers and inventors who have helped to shape our world. It helps us to understand why people did what they did, and the kind of world they were living in at the time. For the most part, I am not inspired to pick up a history book and read it from start to finish, the way I would for most other books.

Doing the research for, and writing the Wisdom of Life Profiles have opened up a new world for me, and I saw the world unfolding in front of my eyes and it’s quite a remarkable feeling. Through the eyes of the people I profile, I am steeped in history. For instance, I saw Roman Emperors through the eyes of Queen Boudica and Seneca. I saw World War II through the eyes of Sir Winston Churchill, what Russia was like during the Bolshevik Revolution through Ayn Rand and Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Revolutionary War through Thomas Jefferson, the American Civil Warthrough Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglas and many more.

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I got to see what people like Susan B Anthony, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and others did to shape our world. I also got to experience what service really means and what it feels like. I also got to experience women’s fight for their right to vote. The things we now take for granted, I saw how hard others fought so that we could have those rights – many gave their lives for their causes.

I travelled with Alexander the Great to Greece, Egypt, Persia, India, and I was there with him when he founded the great library in Alexandria and introduced Greek culture all over the ancient world as he conquered and created a vast empire. Through the eyes of the people I profile, I also see how power can corrupt in the wrong hands, creating despots and fanatics who oppress others forcing their will upon them.

Getting to that place has allowed me to read A Short History of the World by J. Milnor Dorey, and not be bored because it helped me to round out some of the knowledge I acquired from preparing the Wisdom of Life Profiles. It was surprising to discover how much I had already learned. A Short History of the World is exactly that, a short history, so you will not learn about major events in depth by reading it, and the book stops at 1949, so you will not learn about important events after that year.

A Short History of the World by J. Milnor Dorey is divided into two parts, the first is a brief history of the world and the second is a brief history of the United States. It’s a small-sized book, 240 pages in length. It’s divided into:

• Ancient History
• Medieval History
• Modern History
• History of the United States

And under each section, Dorey deals with many topics. For instance, under Modern History you’d find topics such as:

• The Age of Exploration and Discovery
• New Trends at the Beginning of the Modern Period
• Continental Europe from the Seventeenth to the Early Nineteenth Century
• The Early Modern Period in England
• Europe in the Nineteenth Century
• The First World War
• Effects of the First World War
• The Second World War

A Short History of the World serves a purpose because it touches on so many things, and if readers are interested in any of the events mentioned, they can further explore those topics. You’ll learn that the Phoenicians developed the true alphabet, which they partially derived from the Egyptian characters.

One of the greatest battles, Battle of the Marathon in 490 BC, in which the Persians invaded Greece, outnumbering them 10 to one, the Greek prevailed because they defended their homeland vigorously. The battle demonstrates what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it. “Pheidippides ran all the way to Athens to bring news of the victory. When he arrived he uttered one word “Victory,” and dropped dead. The Marathon race is named for this event.”

The Greek led the world in literature, building many theatres in the open. Many college stadiums today were modeled after that concept. The Greeks acted out plays such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. Homer wrote his epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey around 800 BC, and Sappho and Pindar wrote lyric poetry. The great philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle emerged from Greece. The Greek fed their mind, but the Athenians and Spartans were also into physical exercise so they developed games to play, and the great Olympic contests was created.

Emperor Marcus Aurelius (164 – 180 AD) was one of the greatest rulers, and we enjoy his book, Meditations today. Confucius and Lao-tse were two great Chinese leaders. China built the Great Wall of China to keep the raiders and conquerors out. A Short History of the World takes us into the world of the various Dynasties in China. The Arabs in the Middle Ages made significant contributions to mathematics, science, medicine and agriculture. The British invaded France and we have The Hundred Years’ War which was going really bad for the French until Joan of Arc started to lead the French soldiers.

Dorey takes us quickly through history, and we see the birth of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Martin Luther’s reformation of the church; and the Quakers’ start in the United States. As payment for monies owed to him, William Penn, a Quaker accepted a tract of land west of the Delaware River that was in the “New World” in 1681. Penn wanted to leave England because Quakers were persecuted there. This tract of land is known as Pennsylvania for “Penn’s Woods” and he founded the city of Philadelphia. Penn later leased land to the south from the Swedes which became Delaware, and land to the east which became New Jersey.

We get a look at explorers like Christopher Columbus, John Cabot and others, discovering a “New World” that was already occupied by Native Americans. Columbus was looking for a route by sea to India and instead landed in the Americas, the “New World” in October 1492. Italian John Cabot (claimed by the English because he worked for firm in Bristol) set sail and landed in Halifax, thinking that he had reached China. He also discovered Newfoundland. In 1499, Amerigo Vespucci explored the coast of South America and Balboa investigated what we now call Central America.

President Jefferson purchased Louisiana from the French for $15 million in 1803, and nearly doubled the size of the US. And in 1819, President James Monroe purchased Florida from Spain for $5 million.

Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819. But Harvard College, the first institution of higher learning in the United States was founded nearly two centuries before in 1636, the College of William and Mary in 1693, and Yale College in 1701.

We also see the acts of despots like Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini and their tragic ends. There are many disturbing events in world history, but we have to take the bad with the good – that’s a part of the price we pay for progress. While reading A Short History of the World by J. Milnor Dorey, I was reminded that this too shall pass. Nothing stays the same forever.

A Short History of the World by J. Milnor Dorey is a great little book to help us understand where we are coming from, so I recommend it. It will be very difficult to get a new copy. I purchased a used copy for $2 from a sidewalk sale. I have written far more profiles than I posted because that was a part of my Summer Project. However, to complement this review, please refer to Boudica, Joan of Arc, Sappho, Charles Darwin, Geronimo’s Story of His Life.

How can you use this information? If there is information that you have to learn, but find it difficult or “dry,” find creative ways like I did to learn it. If you have children who do not like to read, buy books about topics that they are interested in. Perhaps you could get them comic books because they cover virtually any topic you can think of.

What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Here is the second part of the interview with Jenny Pickles who has worked in the publishing industry for 15 years. What are five great ideas from the interview, and which bits of the interview can you use?

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I have worked in the publishing industry since 1995, firstly at Emerald Group Publishing Ltd initially  in the Editorial department.  Here I was responsible for organizing the annual best paper awards for excellence and managing a suite of real estate and environmental scholarly journals. In 2000 I transferred to the Business Development department and took on responsibility for digital licensing, reprints and permissions.  Two years ago I was lucky enough to be offered the role of Associate Director of Global Rights at John Wiley & Sons in the UK. This involves responsibility for all secondary licensing of the many thousands of books and journals published by Wiley including translation rights, permissions and digital licensing.

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

Since moving to the south of the country to take up my new role my work/life balance has not been especially good, so I am working at building a new network of friends and areas of interest – a work in progress.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

Would like to spend more time with my family – I am sure most people would wish for that.  I try to visit as often as I can and they visit me, but this is definitely at the top of my to-do list after I retire and don’t have to juggle limited time and the need to earn a living.

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

Respect people and they will be more likely to respect you back. Listen to people, they often have interesting and important things to say that you can learn from, spend your money wisely but enjoy your life too, you only get one chance to get it right, aim to leave the world (or even just your workplace or community) in a better place than you found it, be kind and always try to see the other person’s point of view – I don’t always practice what I preach but I try to work at it – it definitely improves both the personal and business aspects of life.

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

I like the theatre, music, and spend a great amount of my time immersed in a good book – usually thrillers, mysteries and I am not averse to a little supernatural element here and there, my particular favourites of the moment are Harlen Coben, Kathy Reichs, Dean Koontz, Diana Gabaldon,Tess Gerittsen and Andew Gross.

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Talking to my colleagues over drinks or a good Thai meal always works for me. We usually come back to the office with lots of ideas.

What’s your favourite quotation and why?

See mentor section above

How do you define success?

Fulfillment at a job well done or an achievement worked hard for.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

The willingness to work for it without stamping on others in the process.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Outlined above

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

As above

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Ah now that is a challenge in itself. Assuming they don’t all have to be alive now – if they do I will need to rethink –

1. Stephen Fry (who is), the English actor and comedian now also appearing more often in US programmes such as Bones,  because he is  so intelligent, witty and interesting and makes me laugh.
2. Richard III because I am curious to know if the portrayal of him by some historians and Shakespeare as such an out and out villain who killed his nephews in the Tower is actually true or what really happened.
3. Thomas Jefferson because I would like to hear more first-hand about how the ‘Founding Fathers’ came together, developed their ideas and justified the conflict between individual freedom and slavery.
4. Freddie Mercury, late great from man from Queen, who I miss since his untimely death and all the wonderful music that the world has foregone. I would love him to sing some of my favourites and maybe something new too.
5. Shakespeare to clear up the rumours  about whether he did actually write all of his plays and how he found his inspiration and ideas.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?

Too many to mention.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

A survival book to teach me how to stay alive long enough to read my five books, Diana Gabalden’s Outlander series which is cheating really because there are about 7 volumes – having read them all I have gone back to the beginning to enjoy it all over again – I would describe it as the most romantic and enduring of historical novels with a supernatural/time travel twist. The characters are wonderful, the writing both funny and emotional.  Can’t think of any others off hand, just too numerous to mention.

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no 2 because of its stunningly beautiful melodies, how they change throughout the piece by featuring different instruments from the orchestra and the way it makes me feel – relaxed, invigorated and moved to tears all at the same time. If there is room on the CD to include Tchiakovsky’s Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty as well all the better. The Movie would be my 15^th Anniversary version of the musical version of Les Miserables – absolutely my all time favourite with such a beautiful score and a dashing Marius in Michael Ball.

If you cannot view the YouTube Video of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no 2 please click here.

If you cannot view the YouTube Video of  Tchiakovsky’s Swan Lake click here.

What excites you about life?

New opportunities

How do you nurture your soul?

With beautiful music, great novels and good friends

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

The good thing to wish for would be the rather clichés world peace but on a personal level a long life with good health in which to enjoy it.

Complete the following, I am happy when…..

I can spend time with my family, especially if that time is spent in a lovely sunny location with pool and great restaurants near-by.

What are to takeaways from the interview? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed.