Customer Reviews

Major Problems in American History: Volume 1: To 1877 (Major Problems in American History (Wadsworth))

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

 

 

I purchased this book for a class I am taking at Purdue. It is a good book as textbooks go, and lays out history in a different fashion so that the reader can infer his own conclusions on historical events. Some of the letters are very interesting, however a bit difficult to read and some of the early English is mis-spelled compared to modern English. If you have a class that uses this textbook, buy from Amazon because the deal cannot be beat! Mine came from a vendor in England which I found interesting and it was close on shipping but did arrive on time and was in perfect new condition.

I was surprised by the lukewarm reception of this anthology on Amazon. Personally, I find it to be a very well edited collection of texts with an interesting approach to teaching.
Every chapter consists of an introduction to the period and subject matter followed by a short introduction to the primary sources. After the primary texts we get two - often differing - academic texts about the subject and they are structured in a way so that the secondary texts usually deal with the primary sources we have just read. I find this extremely useful for me as a student and I am sure it will also be relevant for my own coming students. The anthology presents academic problems at a challenging level but it leads us by the hand by presenting and explaining all the primary sources and their contexts.
"Major Problems in American History" encourages individual, critical thinking by showing that there are various ways to view a certain subject (and this is obviously considered a dangerous thing by people like "Conan the Republican" who bases his entire review upon a misunderstanding of the title :-)

This was a very good price for this book, it was the cheapest one i could find that was in a good condition. i was satisfied with this book other than the bend pages and cover, but when i ordered the book i was aware of the partial damages. there was no pen marks in this book and the book was in good shape for me to red and do my homework. i was really happy becuase this book came to me with in a few weeks of ordering it.

Just read the bios on the authors, and you can pretty much get a good idea where this series is going. Both far left-wingers from left-wing schools. Well, hell...where is there NOT a leftwing school any more, eh? Can you imagine--an entire SERIES of books on the "Major Problems in American History"? Absolutely amazing. Like we need to be reminded once yet again about our "national warts." Communism is dying all over the planet, but it's now hitting it's stride here in America. Hegel said: "History teaches us that man learns nothing from history." We still haven't had our experience with the gulag, yet. But its coming, if these people, Barack Obama and his ilk have their way. Only then will we learn "the lessons of history".