Becoming America

For anyone looking for a thoroughly comprehensive and absorbing history of the United States Becoming America is absolutely the book for you! It systematically catalogues a full history of the country, from early origins through to present day - as you would expect from this type of book - but it does so with fascinating illustrations and a fresh perspective.

Vague memory of Jackson's presidency? Want to explore the causes of the Civil War based on current scholarship? Becoming America is your book for an insightful exploration of US History. Filled with thought-provoking spotlights on individuals, quirky vignettes that offer a view on daily life, and original documents, Becoming America is the book I keep handy on my coffee table so I can look things up and learn from an erudite, accessible source.

The inclusion of social and cultural history make this book an examination of U.S. history, from the beginnings up to tomorrow, going beyond and behind presidential elections, political decisions, wars, and constitutional decisions. It will be of use to college students and to general readers who want the "whole story". It would be especially useful to foreign students who have come to study here.

It's a very entertaining textbook to read. It's straight to the point, and gives great examples using paintings, pictures, and little sub-sections. For example, in a few chapters it has an excerpt of "How much does this cost now?". Where is translates an amount, say funding in war bonds, into how much it would actually amount to today. I recommend buying the Hard copy. I bought the kindle version, and downloaded the pc-kindle reader, and whenever I open up this book, it lets me read the chapters, but as soon as i try to highlight, or underline a sentence, it freezes.

My stepdaughter needed this book for one of her classes and it was way cheaper here than to get it used or to rent it from the school.

The book was used, but after only spending less than $20 to rent it, that is a bargain. I used it for class and sent it back in the provided box.

I wish I had had this textbook in college! Emphasis on cultural, as well as socioeconomic, factors. The best US history survey I've seen.

If you are a boring fact data driven academic this book is for you. If you like entertainment writing, tall tales and deep literature avoid.