A History of the United States [Hardcover]

Daniel J. Boorstin (Author), Brooks Mather Kelley (Author), Ruth Frankel Boorstin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Presents a history of the United States from European exploration to the Presidency of Jimmy Carter.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Pearson Prentice Hall (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130536245
• ISBN-13: 978-0130536242
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nondescript and Poorly Edited, May 8, 2004

By 

Jeffrey P. Sanders (Robbinsville, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of the United States (Hardcover)

I am currently a first year high school teacher whose school has chosen Boorstin to for U.S. I and II. Boorstin's writing is unbelievably frustrating on so many levels. For advanced level students, the text is woefully incomplete. It seems clear that the author's focus was to be concise and simple; however what ends up happening as a result is that things such as causations and analysis are frequently left out. Advanced students will likely become frustrated over knowing the basic facts but not getting anywhere deeper - why did they happen? What historical debates have been had over the facts?

Ironically, my lower level students also hate the book and find it difficult to understand. Boorstin's review questions vary in difficulty between amusingly easy to impossibly hard - making many students apathetic about doing homework (even more than normal). In addition, Boorstin occasionally asks questions that are not referred to in the chapter. The editing in the book is seriously flawed.

The use of Boorstin's book puts the emphasis and burden of knowledge squarely on the teacher. Student-centered activities using the text become significantly harder (or, in the case of some new teachers, impossible) because there simply is not enough information provided to allow for students' opinions or creativity. Critical events in American history are left out - Bacon's rebellion for example is nowhere to be found. Other events, when covered, are woefully out of place - the Middle Passage is covered only two chapters before the Civil War!

Overall, Boorstin's text tries very hard to be a jack-of-all- trades, but fails to really satisfy anyone in the classroom. Avoid it.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sad., June 11, 2007

By 

D. Szelong (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of the United States (Hardcover)

This book is required for both sophomore and junior level US history, and it is terrible to say the least.
All matter of information is slapped together haphazardly to create an unappetizing blend of dry facts with painfully un-witty side comments added by the author of this monstrosity.
It is not organized in any fashion except chronological order. Unlike other better textbooks, by flipping to a page you cannot tell what chapter or subject you are in, and wallow in the fact that you have to read the incoherent jumble of ink on the page to determine it.
I am not looking forward to using it next year, it was extremely difficult to learn from and our teacher had to extract the information and return it to us in the form of notes. We rarely used it because it was so incredibly hard to follow.
Please avoid this book.

1.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a bad dime novel, October 16, 2011

By 

Derek - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the United States (Hardcover)

Sorely lacking in fact and loaded with literary exaggerations that are poor attempts to generate reader interest. Facts are facts. Fiction is fiction. This text is much more the latter, laced with opinion and revisionist slants. As informal and incomplete as it is, even Wikipedia is a better written source!