Customer Reviews

What Every American Should Know about American History: 200 Events That Shaped the Nation

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

 

 

The writers give what they believe to be the 200 most significant events from American history. They give a summary of the event followed by a brief description of how that event fits in with the broader context of American history.

For the most part, they have chosen and written well. While not scholarly, their analyses appear both sound and well thought out. I say appear, because toward the end of the book, when they arrive at incidents which the adult reader will have lived through and will recall well, they miss the mark more often than they hit it. It makes one wonder if their description and analysis of the more distant events might not be skewed as well.

When the book is read with the realization that the authors write from a particular socio-political agenda, then the thoughtful reader can sift their views through the filter of healthy skepticism. Read in this manner, the book is informative, entertaining, and thought provoking.

For someone who enjoys history, this is the perfect book to carry along when you may have short (or long) periods of time to kill. For someone not fascinated by historic events, this is a good, painless way to gain a grasp of history's effect on the present. Presented in small doses, it's very interesting, readable, and portable.

This book should be renamed, "What Every American that is Ashamed of America Should Know About American History." Nearly every segment finds a way to present a negative angle on most of the events.

Not a lot of depth but plenty of topics covered. For a brief glimpse into some important aspects of our American Heritage this works well. However, if you're looking for history lessons don't stop here. Rather than give you an entire account you're given more the "Readers Digest Condensed Version". Perfect little snapshots when you've got 5 minutes to kill.

1 - If you are looking for in-depth coverage of American history, this is not it. This is about two pages on each of 200 events that are important on American History. I promise you will not come out of here knowing everything you need to know about American History.

2 - It is, however, a great follow up book - or good reference. I read this after reading "A People's History of the U.S." and it really helped clear some things up.

3 - This is not biased left or right. I think most textbooks we read in school are biased towards the corporations and government (not saying it's a conspiracy, but after reading other books, that's just my take.) "People's History" and other books are way left, shunning the corporations and anyone who did anything bad to the individual. This is neither, and that's nice. It's just a short recap of each event.

4 - I really like this book and would recommend it. It is a great supplement to any other A.H. book, and is great for those who are short on time or who can't focus for too long.

With kids in school, and wanting help with homework, I needed a book that briefly explains the major events in American history. I chose two books, Don't Know Much About American History, and this book. Both discuss many of the same events in brief commentaries that don't require me to spend hours in review. The advantage of purchasing both books is that I get two views of history, and as we know, history is interpreted differently by different historians. I appreciate both points of view. Both books have helped me explain history to my children and help them construct concise essays recalling the most important details of a particular event.

This book is quite small in format, measuring just 4" by about 6". It has a nice index of historical places and people in the back.

konedog

This is the type of book that can be read in any order. It is just loaded with interestin facts that often forgotten or overlooked.

Excellent summaries of the great events which took place in American history. It helped me immensely when I was writing stories about my ancestors. I checked in the book for the events happening in their "timeline." A nice little book to own. I recommend it!!

Book is a terrific book, received quickly. I would recommend buying this from Amazon.

This book is a crash course in American History from the early explorations of the "New World" on through until the end of the cold war. Basically, 200 major events that best shape the history of our country are here in one collection. It's like reading a 1000 year newspaper.

Choosing what should be in here seems like quite a challenge, but one could say that Phillips & Axelrod covered the bases. One can find out about everything from politics, wars, expeditions & social issues; to commerce, inventions, literature, art, sports, music, & television.

One can learn the basics, as well as the most significant details of life in North America. One could learn a lot (or brush up on their history) from this book.