
Ask HN: United States' history from other ancient civilizations' perspective - unexaminedlife
The other night it struck me how interesting it would be to read United States&#x27; history from the perspective of other cultures that already existed at the time, and preferably from the perspective of the most ancient civilizations.  How did they learn about it, what did they have to say at the time and what was their strategy &#x2F; approach, how did they handle this new entity throughout history?<p>Any recommendations on books or other resources that cover this?
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AnimalMuppet
I'm not sure I understand your question. From, say, France's perspective?
Alexis de Tocqueville's _Democracy In America_ may be what you're looking for.
More recently, I'm sure that there are tons of French perspectives on the US
available.

Or do you mean from the perspective of ancient Rome or Greece? That would more
likely be speculative historical fiction. Someone may have written such, but I
don't know of any examples.

~~~
unexaminedlife
I guess China would be the first specific that came to mind while thinking of
this. That they were one of Earth's first human civilizations, and still exist
as a nation today, intrigues me if we could peer deeply inside their
historical documents mentioning United States and its inception. Also Egypt.

It seems quite amazing to me to think about the massive trove of historical
documents / knowledge their civilization had already acquired by that time,
and that historical knowledge likely informed their perspective on the
situation. What sort of perspective arose in their country at the time when
they first heard about the United States, and how has that perspective evolved
over the years.

I think there are many facets to this that could be explored, but I don't have
any in particular in mind. More interested to get a better understanding of
what's out there for a native English speaker to consume on this topic.

~~~
yesenadam
Definitely read _Democracy in America_ , it's amazing. The best, most
insightful book on today's USA that I've read, though written in the 1830s.
Even the chapter titles are fascinating. Some from Volume II:

 _Why Democratic Nations Show A More Ardent And Enduring Love Of Equality Than
Of Liberty_

 _The Principle Of Equality Suggests To The Americans The Idea Of The
Indefinite Perfectibility Of Man_

 _Of The Taste For Physical Well-Being In America_

 _Causes Of Fanatical Enthusiasm In Some Americans_

 _The Americans Combat Individualism By The Principle Of Interest Rightly
Understood_

 _Of The Spirit In Which The Americans Cultivate The Arts_

 _Why The National Vanity Of The Americans Is More Restless And Captious Than
That Of The English_

 _How The Americans Understand The Equality Of The Sexes_

 _Why So Many Ambitious Men And So Little Lofty Ambition Are To Be Found In
The United States_

[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/816/816-h/816-h.htm#link2HCH...](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/816/816-h/816-h.htm#link2HCH0060)

