Impressions of America - E-book - ePub

In 1910, successful sugar-beet entrepreneur Konstanty Buszczynski travelled to America. The journey, made up of months of travel via trans-atlantic liner, locomotive and automobile, was the start of a love affair that would culminate in his appointment in the first Polish Consul of New York. Buszczynski was delighted by the wide variety of landscapes and people he encountered and recorded everything in long handwritten letters to his family and friends back home in Poland.
Whether it is describing his visit to Niagara Falls (where all the staff had left for a funeral) or explaining the National Park system (admirable, but watch out for rattlesnakes), Buszczynski had an opinion on everything.  Whether you're a lover of history, or enjoy travelogues, you are sure to enjoy Konstanty Buszczynski's lively and observant take on life. Includes a foreword by Dominic A. Pacyga, Professor Emeritus at Columbia College Chicago and author of American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago. "In lively prose Impressions of America evokes the energy and complexity of the society and culture of the United States in the era of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency.
Buszczynski pays little attention to politics but captures the complexity, diversity of the society, economy, and culture, particularly the popular culture. It is a remarkable survey across the continent."- Thomas H. Bender, Professor Emeritus, New York University "When Konstanty Buszczynski returned to Poland after visiting the United States shortly before World War I, he carried a rosy picture of what he had seen and what he believed the United States stood for.
Particularly striking was his view of the United States' strong moral traditions, a view that probably needed to be qualified at the time, but that still offered a welcome complement to less complimentary opinions from foreign visitors. This first English translation of the book is particularly welcome for showing what a wide-awake Polish businessman found to be important in his American sojourn." - Mark Noll, Francis A.
McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame