Customer Reviews

The Oxford History of the American People

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

 

 

I decided I need to know my country's history better, so for the next few years I am reading my way through American history chronologically. I have chosen several books, such as The Federalist Papers and biographies of Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt, but I am using Morison's tome as a guide, stopping along the way to read the other books as the subjects come up in Morison's narrative. For that purpose it is wonderful because it is complete and sequential. But contemporary readers may be put off by his neglect of Native Americans and African Americans. If you want an original interpretation, this isn't it; if you want the mainline, traditional, stars and stripes version of American history, this is the exemplar.

Copyrighted in 1965, this is obviously not a new book but it is an excellent one volume history. Morison writes well and is a pleasure to read. I haven't yet read it cover-to-cover yet as I read it intermittently with other books. I also use it as a reference for things that come up in news or conversation.

This is one of the best summaries of AmericanHistory ever written.
NOT Politically Correct- No Liberal revisionism.
Excellent stories about those who made our country great

The book was just as described great condition pages are as nice not markings, I am also enjoying the content. Thank You

This is an excellent resource. I really enjoy the depth of the subject matter covered by the author.

I came to love history relatively late in life. Unfortunately, this book exemplifies why I came to it so late: it recounts the facts without examining any assumptions, has little tone or style, and absolutely minimal narrative. In other words, this is an old-style survey that you would find on a shelf at the high school library, the kind of book that teachers thrust into young hands as a duty to to study, not as something to enjoy. I skimmed this book and felt no wonder, no desire to read further, and no incentive to remember what I had read so laboriously. It is a complete and utter bore.

Fortunately, this style of writing has long since become obsolete. There is great popular history available - e.g. the new series of Oxford histories that is first rate - that also satisfies academics.

I cannot recommend this book. It is designed for captive audiences, not the person who reads for pleasure or even as the enthusiastic autodidact.