History of the United States of America, The Penguin (Penguin History) [Paperback]

Hugh Brogan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0140134603 | ISBN-13: 978-0140134605

This superb one-volume history--from early British colonization to the fall of President Nixon--captures all the vivid personalities and events as well as the broad sweep of America's triumphant progress. Hugh Brogan looks at the period leading to Independence from the American "and" British points of view, explores the permanent features, both good and bad, of the 'American character' and produces a masterly synthesis of all the latest research to show how the USA developed so rapidly from small beginnings to global dominance.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugh Brogan worked at the Economist and was a fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. He taught at the University of Essex until his retirement in 1998.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140134603
• ISBN-13: 978-0140134605
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,126,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you only read one book on American history..., January 24, 2004

By 

Morgan O'Toole-Smith (Portland OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Penguin History of the USA: New edition (Paperback)

you could not do better than Hugh Brogan's. Not only is it immensely readable (and yes, funny) but, contrary to the comments of other reviewers, his outsider's perspective makes this book even more valuable to American readers. His balanced analysis of critical episodes in American history and their relation to broader trends in world history gives the reader a sense of the interdependency of historical development, something all too often absent from American textbooks. Most importantly, his passionate, though never craven, defence of European Enlightenment thinking, so critical in shaping the essence of American political thought and the philosophical underpinnings of its constitutional framework, is essential if one is to truly grasp the causal factors behind the world's first anti-colonial revolution. There can be no doubt, regardless of the temptation to view the period and its ideas through post-modern eyes, the political figures of the time, whether Tory or Whig, Loyalist or Rebel believed in their respective ideas. A failure to understand this simple fact results in a fundamental failure to grasp the great themes of the 18th century and those that have followed. Hugh Brogan's work should be celebrated wherever free people value what truly makes them free.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short(ish) and Succint, December 8, 2001

By 

Panopticonman "panopticonman" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Penguin History of the USA: New edition (Paperback)

Packed with diverting insights and miscellaneous facts, this general history of the US is notable for its sweep, its sensibility and erudition. If you feel the need to understand the various periods in American, the central economic and political factors which drive the continuity and change from one period to another, this shortened history does an excellent job.

A couple of interesting facts: Tammany Hall was named after the Indian chief Tammany, who gave William Penn land to start his colony. Tammany gave Penn all the land he could walk in three days. Penn stopped after a day and a half and thanked Tammany for his generosity. But the next generation of Pennsylvanians organized a relay race and grabbed as much land as they could in the day and half that follwed. And the work bunk, or bunkum comes from a representative from South Carolina, who in the House of Representatives, delivered a long speech dealing only with local concerns, boring his fellows politicos. He apologized later, saying that the speech was intended only for "Buncum County."

Brogan is particularly adept at drawing incisive portraits of American presidents and leaders. Abraham Lincoln, who may be the most written about American President, is here given new life by Brogan as a man who was a sharp politician, ambitious, steeped in the give and take of democracy -- a side of Lincoln sometimes overlooked in oher biographies. His portraits of Carter, Nixon and Reagan are also insightful.

Great reading for the average reader and the history enthusiast and scholar as well. The average reader will appreciate the grace and insight with which he tells the big story, the history enthusiast and scholar will appreciate the odd details, and Brogran's often tangy slant on America and Americans

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penguin History of the United States of America, December 24, 2001

By 

Peter Meents (Lilburn, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the United States of America, The Penguin (Penguin History) (Paperback)

Brogan's history of the U.S. is well-written and, on the whole, well-researched. I am considering the use of the book in a classroom setting because I am dissatisfied with another English historian's factual innacuracies in an otherwise good book. Brogan, too, makes some factual mistakes that irritate me. For example, he presents Gettysburg as a two-day battle when it was a three-day battle. His mistakes are much less glaring than are Paul Johnson's in his one volume history of the United States, but they are enough to make one ask why English historians writing about American history are too proud to ask an American historian to at least check facts for them before publishing.

Despite this, I rated the book at five stars (although I would have rated it at four-and-a-half stars if I could figure out how).