by Bruce Olav Solheim (Author), Gary Dumm (Illustrator)
I'm An American is an anti-textbook in that it is written by one person, not a team of historians, it includes personal history, it includes comic book pages, and it is not bound to any corporate publisher. The book covers early American history from the arrival of the first native inhabitants of North America through the American Civil War. I'm An American provides a concise approach to surveying early American history in an exciting way that is not afraid to break from the tired mold of the textbooks produced by multi-million-dollar publishers. Professor Solheim is bound to no one except himself and his students, which is a sacred commitment. He is at the end of his career and not looking for another one. His mission is to continue to inspire and empower young minds for as long as possible. Solheim insists that: "We must not be timid in examining our nation's history. We must be heralds of truth and offer brilliantly inspired perspectives, not philosophical dogma, not socially acceptable dry facts, not an "accountant's truth." Keeping in mind that art is more valuable than such lifeless truth, in the words of German filmmaker Werner Herzog, this is an "ecstatic truth." Let us take a chance, take history personally, be bold, mount up, and make history. We ride at dawn!"