Mapping America's Past: A Historical Atlas

by Mark C. Carnes, John A. Garraty, Patrick Williams

A historical atlas about people and ideas. Its themes range from exploration, colonization, wars, and political movements to issues such as family and gender relations, ethnicity, class, education, religion, demography, and disease. Each of the 120 full-color double-page spreads considers a historical debate or theme in detail, supported by graphs and illustrations and bound together by an authoritative text.

Genres: History, Reference, American History, Geography, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 1996

About the author

Mark C. Carnes is Professor of History at Barnard College.

Reviews

[Cindy Dyson Eitelman]

Didn't finish, because this is not the sort of book you check out from the library and read straight through, page by page. It's more of the sort you keep on the bedside table for years, and occasionally pick up to read a few pages. Each two-page section maps and describes an episode from America's past--early settlements, westward expansion, migration, dust bowl, the equal rights amendment.....

All are beautifully written and fun to read, but put together into a single book it's a huge mouthful to chew. Wish I had a copy of it, though.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good maps for the most part, but there are an abundance of typos, errors, and grammatical mistakes. Here is a random selection from the section about WWII:

- "...the fire-bombing of Dresden...result[ed] in the death of 130,000 people" - pg. 198. This has been shown to be a false invention of the neo-Nazi historian David Irving.
- "Meanwhile, after the Nazis had seized power in Germany in 1936" - pg. 185. The Nazis "seized power" in 1933.
- "There was much hard fighting, by the end of April most of Okinawa was in American hands and by June the battle was over" - pg. 197. Run-on sentences like these are common in this book.

And finally, not every place mentioned in the text is included on the provided maps. Why do historical atlases do this? Every place mentioned in the text needs to be clearly shown on the map. Why mention the place otherwise?

Still, some of the sections contain good overviews of important events, and the maps are useful for the most part.

[Justin P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few reviewers gave more negative ratings so I'll answer their criticisms:

1. no footnotes or clear attribution - there's the Biblio in the back. Granted, this atlas, like many historical sources without page footnotes, won't tell the reader the specific pages of the source cited. I did find more details from the Biblio, but I had to read the cited authors whole source.

2. debunked claims - Carnes should have subtitled the atlas: "a Few Theories". For example, the "Church Membership" section borrows Dr. Butler's claims that the religious attendance of colonists was low. That claim is still debated. The Intro does admit that the authors included material that is debatable, so they aren't being deceptive; but who reads Intros?! :)

I think it's a fine atlas and a good reference.

[Lena White]

Carnes, M., Garraty, J. & Williams, P. (1996). Mapping america's past: A historical atlas. New York: Henry Holt and Co.

Citation by: Lena White

Type of Reference: Geographical Reference

Call Number: 911.73 fC289

Content/Scope: An atlas consisting of 288 pages that are in full color. Each of the 120 double page spreads details a historical theme. It includes graphs and illustrations that are supported with text. The themes range from exploration, colonization, wars, and political movements to issues such as family and gender relations, ethnicity, class, education, religion, demography, and disease. This atlas is an excellent resource for teachers to use as a reference to show during class. It is also a good material to have on hand when older students are doing research.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias: Mark Carnes is a historian who holds a professor position at Columbia University. He has published over 30 books detailing different aspects of mostly American history.

Arrangement/Presentation: The maps presented cover double pages and are in vibrant colors. Each set of pages covers a different theme; the themes are highlighted with illustrations and graphs along with text to explain the importance of the theme being shown. These range from atmospheric changes, Native Americans and their destruction, including detailed battle diagrams ranging from the Revolution through the Cold War.

Relation to other works: Many historical atlases are available--this one does the basic wars and battles, but also goes into detail with more lesser-known topics such as neighborhood development and political battles in specific areas that led to shaping the country.

Accessibility/Diversity: The language in the book is non-sexist. The illustrations depict many cultures. This is a terrific resource for visual learners.

Cost: $34.95

Professional Review: Mitchell, RD. (1998). Mapping america's past: A historical atlas. Journal Of American History. 84(4), 1467-1468.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more "high school and earlier" level, but it might have some relevance for ... lots of topics in American history, really. So it's potentially worth flipping through. My main quibble is that it isn't very specific about where the information in the writeups that accompany the maps comes from. There is a source listing but no footnoting or other specificity.