Customer Reviews

The People: A History of Native America

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

 

 

I used this text for a college American Indian Studies course. The book offers a fairly concise history of the various Native American people groups from early origins to first contact with Europeans to present day. The text presents this information from the perspective of the Indian and offers a slight alternative to most mainstream American History Books. Overall, it was an insightful read.

I got this book for my Native American History course. Because of my course load, I planned to skim and lightly read it in order to summarize the chapters as assigned. However, I found I could not do that, because the textbook is so engrossing and interesting, and it engages you and propels you through it. It is so well-written, well-researched and, actually, entertaining, I will be keeping my book instead of re-selling it. It is written more from the Native American point of view, which I really loved, and it gives you the big picture by illustrating all the little pictures. I could go on and on for several paragraphs about the wonderful content, but in consideration of space available, simply put,I highly recommend this! I don't even want to call it a textbook, because it is such a satisfying read, anyone interested in the subject will love this book, whether or not it is required reading! You will be surprised at how dense this book is and how they weave the story of several hundred years into a very readable piece of work. I have never in my life had a textbook that has delighted me so much! If only the authors would write an algebra book. I could really use that!

This is an excellent book for those who already have an intermediary (or advanced) knowledge of American Indian history and want to expand on the subject. The book is jammed packed with information: from pre-columbian history to the present day. It is not a condensed version of what happened, but wants to reflect that complexities of Indian-European relations throughout the centuries. It is well written and very well researched. However, I wouldn't recommend it for American Indian history novices ('American Indian History for Dummies' is a very good choice if you're starting on the subject). One of my few regrets is that the pictures are in black and white. I'm using my copy for one of my university classes.