Comments on: I need a general US History textbook.

Question: I need a general US History textbook.

hazyspring — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:25:35 -0800

I'm looking for a good college level textbook for US History.

I'm going to be studying to take US History I (Early Colonizations to 1877) and II (1865 to Present) CLEP exams over the next few months.

Give me some recommendations for engaging textbooks that you used in your recent entry level US History classes.

By: YoBananaBoy

YoBananaBoy — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:29:57 -0800

Here are the reading lists for MIT's Antebellum and Postbellum US History classes.

Hope that is a place to start.

By: zippy

zippy — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:36:37 -0800

As supplemental material, I'd recommend The Cartoon History of the US. Quite engaging.

By: charmston

charmston — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:49:00 -0800

I'm a big fan of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Certainly slanted in a liberal-type direction, but it's a good read.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:10:18 -0800

Seconding Zinn.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:12:03 -0800

Errr, well, maybe not. Just noticed that you're studying to take some sort of tests. In that case, I wouldn't recommend Zinn.

Read Zinn after you're done with the exam.

By: hazyspring

hazyspring — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:14:20 -0800

Thanks, I have already read Zinn. This is for a CLEP exam, which is based on texts that are used across the country to teach US History, from what I understand.

By: ThatSomething

ThatSomething — Sun, 11 May 2008 10:45:26 -0800

A cousin at Auburn just used Faragher's Out of Many: A History of the American People (Volume 1, Volume 2).

By: dismas

dismas — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:28:22 -0800

When I took AP US History in high school (three years ago), we used Nation of Nations, which was decent enough. I think it's what the local community college used for the two courses you mentioned. I don't really have any basis for comparison to other texts, but it as pretty decent.

Actually, Zippy's recommendation of the Cartoon History of the United States would probably be helpful, if only to break the tedium while still helping you study a bit.

By: liketitanic

liketitanic — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:37:20 -0800

Eric Foner's GIVE ME LIBERTY
or Alan Brinkley's AMERICAN HISTORY: A SURVEY

are the two most popular texts used in college classes, I velieve.

By: fructose

fructose — Sun, 11 May 2008 12:00:42 -0800

Tindall & Shi's America: A Narrative History is quite long, but you could skip around or skim parts if needed. It's really good, though. I did use it in high school, but it was for a college-level US history course and was actually far better than the texts used by the actual college courses.

By: fructose

fructose — Sun, 11 May 2008 12:02:27 -0800

Oh, and your university should have a list of recommended reading for the CLEP tests. If it's not available somewhere online, you can ask your academic advisor.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:10:34 -0800

Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People.

Covers everything.

By: awesomebrad

awesomebrad — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:10:56 -0800

When I took the American History AP test, we learned from A People and A Nation, which was really extraordinarily excellent. A benefit is that there are different writers for different sections - i.e. Howard Chudacoff wrote most of reconstruction, which is the focus of most of his work.

By: showbiz_liz

showbiz_liz — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:11:33 -0800

You might actually take a look at the Princeton Review's AP US History study guide, as a supplement to whatever else you read. It's technically aimed at that specific test (a high school test, but a college-level one), but it has a great quick-yet-thorough history of the US. If you skip over the practice exams and just read the history, it's maybe 100 pages. And it's pretty cheap.

By: HotPatatta

HotPatatta — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:16:59 -0800

A People and A Nation is a wildly popular college-level US History text. The authors are all very well known leaders in their field. It has a good mix of political, military, and social history. A brief edition is also available.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:19:37 -0800

Not technically a textbook, but the Teaching Company's History of the United States in incredible, both in width and depth. Plus it's audio, so you can listen to it which you're doing other things. I can't recommend it highly enough.

By: maurice

maurice — Sun, 11 May 2008 15:34:00 -0800

When I taught history, I used Tindall & Shi's America as mentioned by fructose. It's been a few years and there may be better choices now, but I always found it to be very readable for a textbook.

By: Orb2069

Orb2069 — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:59:57 -0800

A People and A Nation , (above) is what they used in my Winter Interm US History I course, and I also recommend it. Even at the rate of two chapters a night, a fair bit of it stuck with me.

By: Avenger

Avenger — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:50:39 -0800

I thought Out of Many was a pretty good read -- although it's almost entirely a social history, with little or no military/economics thrown in, except where it might have affected US social mores.

By: Mael Oui

Mael Oui — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:53:48 -0800

I'm not sure if this would be an engaging sort of book you'd want to (or be able to) peruse quickly, but my AP American History text was The National Experience: A History of the United States by.. well, we just called it the Blum text (for John M. Blum). I don't recall it being as difficult as the reviewers note; in fact, it really intensified my love of history. I recall it being a fascinating read (VERY detailed but wonderfully written -- unfortunately, it had me thinking that all college texts would be so well written), but maybe not something that would be easy to skim. But, it did cover everything you're looking for.