Customer Reviews

America, Vol. 2: A Concise History, Second Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Over the past year I have had the opportunity to compare this book with Roark's The American Promise, and I would highly recommend Roark over this book.

The most serious flaw of the Henretta text is its cavalier attitude toward the facts. This is worst in its section on World War II. For example, on pages 800-801, we read "In July 1943 after Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime fell and Mussolini was executed, Italy's new government joined the Allies." Of course, in reality, Mussolini was promptly restored to power by German occupation and did not die until 1945; nor was he executed, but rather murdered by partisans without benefit of trial. On page 805, we read that "The capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa put bombers in position to attack Japan itself," when in fact it was the previous year's capture of the Marianas that put the Japanese islands in U.S. bomber range. In the very same paragraph, we read that "Before the Soviets could act, the Japanese offered to surrender on August 10," but in reality the USSR had declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945 and had invaded Japanese-held Manchuria on August 9. This oversight is particularly important, in that some historians argue that it was the Soviet declaration of war as much as the atomic bombs that convinced Japan to surrender.

That the book frequently lapses into tendentious left-wing ideology hardly needs mentioning; the vast majority of academic history textbooks today have the same problem, and non-academic right-wing "correctives," like Thomas Woods, are usually even worse. Still, left-wing writing need not be bad writing, nor as distorting to the historical record as this text's often is. For example, on page 519 we find this passage: "In Europe job-seeking peasants commonly tried seasonal agricultural labor or temporary work in nearby cities. America represented merely a larger leap." This is a feeble attempt to pretend that late-19th and early 20th century Europe offered opportunities similar to America's, and, if accepted, renders America's massively larger immigration rate inexplicable.

As might be expected in a book co-authored by three people, the quality varies considerably from chapter to chapter. Chapter 18, "The Rise of the City," stands out as particularly well written. One good technique the authors use is to place U.S. history in its international context, as when comparing the urban history of Chicago to Berlin or pointing out the origin of Chinese immigration to America in a general flood of Chinese immigration throughout the Pacific in the 19th century. It is only in this respect that this text is superior to Roark, which often skimps on the world-historical setting of U.S. history.

While the authors deserve commendation for trying to address the history of American racial minorities, their efforts usually devolve into a mere listing of grievances, especially as regards Native Americans and Latinos; African American achievements and resistance to prejudice are somewhat better described. Women's history comes off best; the authors are generally, though not always, successful in describing women's experience as an integrated whole in which men's oppressive behavior is only one part.

The book's overwhelming drawback compared to Roark is the poverty of illustrations, which are few, ill-chosen, and exclusively black-and-white. In contrast, the maps are excellent.

I can understand that cash-strapped colleges may prefer this book to Roark because it is cheaper. Still, it should have been possible to create a budget college textbook that was more accurate and less biased.

The authors had a difficult task. To further shorten their other text, "America's History", by almost 50%. Yet they seem to have succeeded. The book has a logical narrative flow. That does not feel like a standard text. Quite expertly done. When you consider that very disparate topics are covered. Like reform in the Progressive Era, or the emergence of the US as a world power. But somehow, each chapter segues gracefully into its successor.

The book also starts each chapter with a human interest anecdote. To try and bring the chapter's theme down to an easily comprehensible scale. And thus to motivate the reader into absorbing the broader mass of the chapter. The book is well suited for a general audience.

This book was a required reading in a short summer history class. The book reads well and is relatively easy to get through. The chapters are organized into sections based on events, so there were some time jumps that I found confusing, but other than that this was one of the best class books I've had.

This book has a small print and it is almost 500 pages worth of reading material. It covers everything from the very beginning of the first emigrants to the Americas until the Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery. It gives you lots of facts about each topic and what was happening in the new world and Europe at the time. It has pictures, letters and maps to illustrate the material. This is my first college class for Early American History and there was so much for me to learn that I became engrossed in some of its chapters. I enjoyed the reading and did very well in the class. There is a companion website you can go to that offers the summaries for each chapter and quizes to help you study and remember the content.

This book is very difficult to follow because it is written in circles. They address one topic and a time period and then go on to another topic with a different but overlapping time period. For anyone who thinks linearly, it is very difficult to put events and circumstances together. I was not impressed.

Item as promised in great codition, great price. Item was shipped fast. Thanks for the great service. Very pleased with my experience would buy from again.

I'd definitely order from these guys again!! My book came quickly and they had the best price around!! You won't be sorry!

I used this book along with the baron's 101 ez keys to pas the American History II CLEP exam. The book was informative, easy to read and not too textbook dry.

The softcover format made it easy for me to take with me wherever I went!

James A. Henretta and his colleagues have successfully written a concise history book that is not boring or tedious. It offers smooth transitions from topic to topic. It's concise and not boring, not like a tranqualizer like some history texts.

This book fulfills the requirements of American History. Although I have never read the first or second edition of this book I have read four American History books and none of them cover so wide a topic in so much detail with so little space. Just under a thousand pages this turns out to be an extended American history with great emphasis on Americas stance as a world power. These authors are completely unbiased of any political undertones and follow Americas path from conception to the trade centers. The latter part of the book does a fabulous job painting a picture of Americas place in the world and the interconnection of globalization that lies heavily on Americas shoulders. The 21st century is described in emphasis and takes a good part of the book - things like north/south conflict and the prohibition era are also discussed intensively and fairly.