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Anyone have a suggestion for American history? I am looking for something that focuses on how America grew into the leading world power in such a short amount of time comparatively.
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I know these books are great but do you know any book which is shorter read, sitting around 1000 pages each those are quite heavy reads
A People’s History is ~800 pages and clips along at a good pace. I don’t know that you can go much shorter with an overview of such a long period without sacrificing a lot of substance. I’d highly recommend making the investment into A People’s History - easily one of the most significant histories of America - and Howard Zinn’s other work if you end up appreciating it.
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The author, Jill Lepore, has been called out for not doing her homework on facts.
You should give the book a shot. It's received some pretty[0] killer[1] reviews[2] from sources more authoritative than an Amazon rando. And even if you go pretty far right[3], the reviews stay largely positive. [0] https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/jill-lepore-amer... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/books/review/jill-lepore-... [2] https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/sc-books-the... [3]…
Off-topic: I majored in history for my BA. For the first year out of college, I struggled to find work, and was worried that I had made a terrible choice. 8 years on, after supplementing my studies with essentially an Associate’s in CS, my view has changed significantly. Here are the most useful skills that I’ve gained from my study of history: * There’s a phrase among historians that writing history is like drinking…
However, when people who plan to major in history ask me for advice I tell them to major in something more marketable and make history their minor. I would recommend the same thing to any prospective humanities major. The humanities are wonderful but you can be exposed to them while pursuing a marketable major that will make your life after college a lot easier.
Anyone have a suggestion for American history? I am looking for something that focuses on how America grew into the leading world power in such a short amount of time comparatively.
Off-topic: I majored in history for my BA. For the first year out of college, I struggled to find work, and was worried that I had made a terrible choice. 8 years on, after supplementing my studies with essentially an Associate’s in CS, my view has changed significantly. Here are the most useful skills that I’ve gained from my study of history: * There’s a phrase among historians that writing history is like drinking…
Anyone have a suggestion for American history? I am looking for something that focuses on how America grew into the leading world power in such a short amount of time comparatively.
https://www.amazon.com/Made-America-Informal-History-Languag...
Anyone have a suggestion for American history? I am looking for something that focuses on how America grew into the leading world power in such a short amount of time comparatively.
Pairing A Patriot's History and A People's History makes for some interesting perspective. They don't really offer explicit points/counterpoints, but they certainly frame things differently over similar time periods (which cover America's coming of age to a powerful world presence). https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-History%C2%AE-United-States-... https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062...
Howard Zinn's History Lessons: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/howard-zinns-history...
Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn's A People's History Falls Short: https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Wineburg...
While it may be interesting to pair A People's History with A Patriot's History, it is like watching a news network interview where they pull in the "person from the left" and "person from the right" to argue at each other. One is usually better off hearing a single person who acknowledges both sides of the issue.
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You should give the book a shot. It's received some pretty[0] killer[1] reviews[2] from sources more authoritative than an Amazon rando. And even if you go pretty far right[3], the reviews stay largely positive. [0] https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/jill-lepore-amer... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/books/review/jill-lepore-... [2] https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/sc-books-the... [3]…
You appear to be alleging there is no value or merit in the pointing out of blatant factual errors by an “Amazon rando”. Lepore is well-known. It is unsurprising there would be “killer reviews” of her latest work in various publications. I’m a former—undergraduate and graduate—student of history. That Lepore’s latest work contains argument based on factual errors is a problem for a history . That there are effusive r…
Since I'm not a history, I don't feel comfortable judging accuracy. Instead, I would trust a historian's peers writing reviews in trusted publications.