Publisher's Weekly Review
Figuring enough ink has been spilled writing up the usual suspects of American heroism-like Paul Revere, Martin Luther King Jr., Betsy Ross, and others-Martin, the executive editor of National Geographic Travel, provides readers with a medley of unsung heroes and their compelling stories. Self-sacrifice and determination abound in the tales of folks like Joseph Dutton, who moved to a leper colony in Hawaii at the end of the 19th century to devote the rest of his life to the ostracized community; Madam C.J. Walker, nee Sarah Breedlove, a daughter of former slaves, who went from earning $1.50 a day as a laundress to becoming "one of the country's first self-made female millionaires" by selling her "hair grower" preparation as the African American beauty market expanded; and Hedy Lamarr, already known as a "silver screen goddess," who went largely unheralded for inventing a "a new technology that could be used to create a more accurate torpedo," for which she received a patent in 1942. Meticulously researched, Martin holds his subjects in deserved high-esteem. However, the brief chapters (separated into Voyagers, Innovators, and Humanitarians), while providing for an easy reading experience, might leave some readers wanting for more. Agent: Erin Malone, WME Entertainment. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Reverent character sketches of some unusually self-reliant Americans. The 30 men and women celebrated by National Geographic book and magazine editor Martin (Land of the Ascending Dragon: Rediscovering Vietnam, 1997, etc.) are all unique characters of diverse origins and stations in life--independent inventors, captains of industry, dogged scientists, simple humanitarians, adventurers and undercover agents. Among them: Jonathan Letterman, the father of battlefield medicine; Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones, the young farm hand who became president of the Acme Sucker Rod Company and mayor of Toledo; Kirk Bloodsworth, the first prisoner freed by DNA evidence; John Wallace Crawford, the prototypical cowboy-poet; Clarence Saunders, the founder of the first modern supermarket, Piggly Wiggly; Mary Bowser, the slave in the kitchen of Jefferson Davis who was a Yankee spy; Hercules Mulligan, Gen. George Washington's secret agent-tailor; and Hugh Thompson, the brave pilot who exposed the massacre at My Lai. Though presented as woefully unsung heroes, at least some of the individuals may still be remembered: the Great White Hunter of the Museum of Natural History, Carl Akeley, for example, or the noble last Stone Age American, Ishi. Hedy Lamarr, the clever movie-star inventor, has been celebrated in two recent biographies--Stephen Michael Shearer's Beautiful (2010) and Richard Rhodes' Hedy's Folly (2011). Martin--who has written for younger readers, an audience for whom this book will also be appropriate--taps a seemingly inexhaustible source of material; surely there are more hidden tales of independent, feisty Americans out there somewhere. Inspirational yarns of exceptional folks who made a difference--a bit corny but surprisingly entertaining.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Tired of reading about history headliners such as Washington, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr.? Here are 30 Americans retrieved from obscurity based on Martin's criterion that their achievements helped shape the world we know today. While Washington, D.C.'s Japanese cherry trees may seem a trivial influence on the world we know today, the development of cancer drugs and high-yield grains qualify more substantively as world changers. And if the subject's accomplishment is not precisely globe-girdling, his local significance measures up to one of Martin's other criteria for inclusion, humanitarianism. Such are the steward of a Hawaiian leper colony, a Progressive-era mayor of Toledo, Ohio, and an organizer of U.S. Army medical services in the Civil War. Under innovators, Martin gathers the entrepreneur behind Piggly Wiggly, the original supermarket, and screen siren Hedy Lamarr, whose patent in radio technology is applicable to cell phones and had a palpable modern impact. With the American archetype of the explorer an additional category, Martin's life-and-work portraits, with their subjects' pluck and pioneering spirit, will surprise and, perhaps, inspire readers.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2010 Booklist
