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This Land that I Love: Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, and the Story of Two American Anthems
This Land that I Love Irving Berlin Woody Guthrie and the Story of Two American Anthems Author:John Shaw Millions of Americans have sung “God Bless America? and “This Land Is Your Land.? Few know that the latter originated when a homeless Dust Bowl refugee named Woody Guthrie became so provoked by Irving Berlin?s sentimental celebration of patriotism that he began to write an American anthem of his own—one that encompassed the dark realities of the... more » Dust Bowl and Great Depression. But Guthrie was unaware that the song he despised concealed complexities all its own. Irving Berlin had also risen from homelessness before becoming America?s most successful songwriter, and penned his song partly in response to Hitler?s rise overseas.
In This Land that I Love, music-writer and composer John Shaw writes the biography of these beloved American songs. He offers a unique view of the 20th century?s first few tumultuous decades through the prism of these two unforgettable anthems that continue to resonate today.« less