Customer Reviews

American Economic History (The Harpercollins Series in Economics)

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American Economic History is a challenging, extensive,
and complete economic history of the United States from the
establishment of the Jamestown settlement to modern economic
issues and trends. Hughes gives an overview appropriate to
the college upper classman or graduate student. The book does
a particularly fine job of discussing and analyzing the slavery
question that, for the most part, led to the Civil War. And the
various causes, such as the Stock Market Crash of 1929, that led
to the Great Depression.

The authors survey the various strains of thought on most of
the central economic issues in American History: usually giving
the most logical view(s) as based on the emperical evidence available
to the economist/historian. In addition, to being, generally, well
written and accurate, the text lends itself to a short or moderate
length essay as a means of evaluation. TWA

This is a wonderful textbook for anyone looking to teach a course on economic history of the United States. For just general reading I would recommend Gordon's An Empire of Wealth but for others looking to teach or do an independent study this is a must. It clearly lays out all the developments in our economy very carefully and does a wonderful job of discussing current and relevant literature so you can specialize in the areas that you wish to look at further.

For what it aims to accomplish, this is a first-rate book. Cain (who took over authorship in a prior editions after Hughes untimely death) aims to provide a comprehensive, chronologically arranged narrative and analysis of American economic growth from the Colonial period to the present. The intent is to reach a broad audience and Cain writes clearly, avoids use of a lot of technical language, introduces basic economic concepts as needed, and is very good at explaining relatively abstruse questions. Book production is very good and a strength of this volume. The narrative writing is very strong, there is abundant use of clear and well chosen tables and charts to illustrate many important points and issues. There are a number of nice illustrations in each chapter. Cain does a particularly nice job of providing useful bibliographies and sets of references for further reading.

One of the best things about this book is the broad spectrum of issues and analyses discussed. What might be considered the core issues of economic growth, patterns of trade, financial history, and other more purely economic topics are covered extremely well. In addition, there are a number of excellent and interesting sections on important related topics such as the importance and evolution of the American legal system, demographic changes, history of technology, and good coverage of specific and sometimes controversial issues such as the economics of slavery. Cain does a nice job of discussing the history of some controversies.

While relatively minor, there are some defects. The narrative, while generally strong, is sometimes a bit historically tone-deaf. Its not, for example, really accurate to refer to the dynastic states of 17th century France and Spain as nation-states. In his discussion of the late 19th and early 20th century, Cain tends to lump together the Progressive and Populist movements. As is common with a lot of economists, Cain has a tendency to treat market relationships as normative, which has a bit of circular flavor. Nonentheless, this is a really useful and enjoyable book.

I received my order on time. My book (American Economic History 8th Edition) was in great condition however, it was not as advertised. I contacted the vendor and was more than pleased with their quick response. The vendor exceeded my expectations in handling the problem. I place high importance on customer service when purchasing products from a business. On a scale from 1 to 10, I give textbooknook a 10. I will definitely be doing business with them in the future!!!

This book is very good with the history of the economy from the start of the colonies to the present but does not cover all that I need for my class so I have had to borrwo from my instructor another book.