looking for something not excessively detailed but comprehensive regarding the major events, not too interested in details of the war of independance and what led up to it, and up to the present day.
2007-01-31 00:37:49 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
I believe the best book is "A Peoples History of the United States" by Howard Zinn.
It is not excessively detailed regarding wars, indepedence, etc. Instead, the book focuses on the details that surround major historical events in the U.S. and the people involved. The book has won numerous awards.
2007-01-31 00:55:31 · answer #1 · answered by mth83vt 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion you're looking for the best of a bad lot. I've yet to come across a single volume history of the US that wasn't biased, by omission of certain events if in no other way.
This bias is the reason (and I see it daily in this forum), that people are so ignorant so of the contributions of the Southern colonies and states to the Revolution and the founding of the Republic, as most especially about slavery, New England's role in slavery, and the War Between the States.
People commonly draw time lines of the settling of America back to the landing of the Mayflower, when there was already a functioning colony with a House of Burgesses in Jamestown, VA.
People think the Revolution was mainly fought in the Northern colonies, even though there were more battles fought in the South.
And of course, the biggest lie is that the North fought the War Between the States to end slavery. Slavery was a very big reason for secession, but had nothing to do with why the Union went to war to prevent secession.
The American Heritage History of the United States is the best available, but it's a 16 volume series.
2007-01-31 03:01:38 · answer #2 · answered by rblwriter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not a fan of text books generally however I would suggest any text-book over "Don't Know Much About History" which is slanted with the authors Lutheranism. As for "A Peoples History of the United States" by Howard Zinn it is an extremely slanted (to the left) history which supper imposes modern values in its pages, a practice which all ways leads to removing the context from the events.
2007-01-31 01:19:08 · answer #3 · answered by sean e 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, I agree with Sean on this one. Textbooks are hard because the author necessarily comes with some preference for the material he puts in his book. How do you write over 200 years of history into 200 pages? Something has to be left out, right? The author of the textbook decides what, and sometimes for better or worse. Try a couple different textbooks and compare them as you go. You will find contradictions that may lead you on to more interesting subjects within American history!
2007-01-31 02:08:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think any good history text book would meet those requirements. If you love historical fiction read James Michner, he did a lot of work on American History.
2007-01-31 00:50:04 · answer #5 · answered by Jessy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
"Don't Know Much About History" is an easy read with lots of good info.
2007-01-31 01:09:44 · answer #6 · answered by tabithap 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
National Experience has everything that you need to know
2007-01-31 04:22:08 · answer #7 · answered by toonmili 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋