Customer Reviews

5 Steps to a 5 AP U.S. History, 2010-2011 Edition (5 Steps to a 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is an amazingly good book with short paragraphs that tell you all you need to know! If your more of a detail kind of person than this is not for you. This kind of gives you the rundown of the important facts you need to know, and expects you to know the rest from the textbook you are using, which is good.

Its concise, but I did find some mistakes. On page 69 the author correctly names the colonial governor of the Dominion of New England Edmund Andros, but a few paragraphs later he calls him "John Adros." On page 104 referring to the Marbury v. Madison Case, he states that Marbury's first name is "John" when it is William. Then in the "rapid review guide" on page 145 he mistakenly refers to Andrew Johnson as "Andrew Jackson." Hopefully I won't find anymore problems. Despite these somewhat minor mistakes, the book is good at summarizing American history.

I barely knew anything from my teacher. Read this about a month prior to my test and scored a 3. Alright. Don't expect to read this and get a 5; that's only possible if you're coming into the game with a lot of knowledge.

I took a regular US History course this year but studied for the AP US History test on my own using this book. Bottom line, the book helped me receive a 4. I did read the first few chapters of the textbook "The American People" early on in my AP review, but that book was too long -- it became clear that I would not cover everything using a regular long textbook. This book provides great review pages to give you a short list of everything you need to know to succeed on the AP test. Its methods of short, understandable paragraphs and highlighted black terms are very effective.

Study everything this book offers and you will be prepared, information wise, for the AP test. Practice your writng for the essays too, and you can have great success! This book is also very effective if you only have a few weeks before the Ap US history test. I wish the author wrote other AP history review books -- his style and format is great!

I found that this book was informative to the point that I didn't even use my text book. Entire second semester I used only this review book and found myself not only far more successful but really deeply understanding the history. Having stopped short at 1970 I received a 4 on the test. Had I finished the book I'm sure I or anyone for that matter would receive a 5. I wholeheartedly recommend!

This book covered all the main topics in short enough paragraphs.
I liked how there was a practice exam in the beginning and at the end to see your progress! One thing I didn't like about the book was some of the info that it included didn't need to be said, it was a waste of time reading- maybe it'll help someone later in an essay for supporting details. Also the questions after each section weren't really like an AP test question- also the answer was RIGHT under the question making it hard for me not to look under. But I did like how they would kinda of summarize WHY that was the answer.

I'd recommend the AP US History Crash Course by REA as a follow up to this book.
both are amazing.

GET IT! (:

Not bad not bad. Only thing that ticked me off are the review question multiple choice answers are directly under the questions, making it hard to resist covering the answer and then accidently peeking. if it was one line down it would have been great.
Book itself, kind of more expensive about $2-3 more then the other study guides, i don't see it as anything special though i've never seen the other books.
If you want to save those $3, and spend that towards saving or faster shipping try it.
Otherwise give this book a shot, a less known publisher.

A very decent review of American History. It goes from colonial times through the Obama administration, so it definitely doesn't skip over a whole lot; I'd say it's a perfect study tool for the AP test, even if you're cramming a week before, like I did. The only annoying things about the guidebook are the questions at the end of each chapter; the answer is in bold directly underneath the question, and it's a little hard to quiz yourself without trying your best to cover it up without accidentally sliding your hand down too far. The practice tests in the front and back are excellent though; I highly recommend this book, though would advise using other material in addition if you want to score a 5.

I just opened the box and have spent the last half our skimming through the book, I noticed that it was more content oriented, content which you can get from your ordinary textbook, however the information is explained in depth but still summarized and only includes what you need to know.

However it also contains test taking strategies and has practice test so you can get a feel for what the test will be like. It has information on how to tackle Document-based and free response essay questions.

This book is a straight down review of major topics. It does not give many details of other events, but it still for good use. Also, what annoys me about this book is the answer if right below the question. It is merely impossible not to see the answer while reading down the choices. The answer is even highlighted for you to notice. I have to use an index card to prevent me from seeing the answers. Moreover, the book have many highlighted terms or terms that are not explained within the text. I had to constantly go to the back of the book to see what those highlighted words meant. It just creates more unnecessary work for me and for many others. Although, the book is a great review guide, but i would suggest more with the details surrounding the time period rather than the super major ones.