My thanks to the staff of American Heritage for your very special fiftieth anniversary issue with its guide to great books (November/December 2004). While one may quibble with some of the choices, overall the contributors were thoughtful and discriminating.

Using books as a theme to inform us about our past is a wonderful way to celebrate your golden anniversary. As Abraham Lincoln said in 1855, ”. . . get the books, and read, and study them carefully. . . .Work, work, work, is the main thing.”