Customer Reviews

America: A Narrative History (Brief Seventh Edition) (Vol. One-Volume)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As someone who likes history but hates studying it, this textbook was a gem. It is very brief and to the point, but it's the little things that really make this textbook shine.

The first great bit that I loved was the free website that they offer with the book. Most other companies charge for this, so this was like having a little extra help for free. The next part that I liked was that there were plenty of little questions peppered throughout the book (usually under one of the many pictures) that students can use to test their comprehension of the material. Suffice to say, if you didn't know the answers to the questions that meant that you should go back & re-read the chapter.

Now for the "but" part of my review. There are two flaws to this book, although neither are really terrible enough to warrant knocking the rating down. The first flaw is that the textbook does sadly suffer from "textbook-itis". Textbook-itis is when a publisher/writer has to boil a subject down to the bare minimum in order to squeeze all of the major details into a textbook. It's the best way to ensure that everything is taught, but unfortunately it does make for a dull read for the average student.

The other "flaw" is that the book isn't entirely non-partial. It's rather subtly done & most students would never realize it unless they read the chapters over & over again. It doesn't interfere with the reading & to be honest, the viewpoints are so common that they aren't controversial at all. I honestly don't mind reading an author's viewpoint & in the case of this book I do agree with their opinions, but textbooks are supposed to be non-partial.

Still, this is a great textbook when all things are considered. I do recommend that if you aren't great when studying in a classroom situation that you take the time to find a few accompaniments to help you with the text. I personally liked to use the sparknotes guidelines with this book.

This is one of the most portable but comprehensive history textbook for US history. It is a must-have for US history students. And the price here was the cheapest I could find online.

1st class the instructor said I had the wrong book. The return was very easy and thr refund came very quickly. Thanks!

This book was shipped and received right after ordering. Book came in perfect condition and well before school started. Highly recommend to others.

I ordered my book and paid for fast shipping, and book is not here after a week.

It's great for the class I need! They charged half of what the college bookstore charged for it, and it was the exact same thing. It came very quickly despite the fact that it said it would take two weeks to send!