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The Complete Idiot's Guide to U.S. History, Graphic Illustrated
History comes alive!
Presented in a high-impact, graphic novel format, The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to U.S. History, Graphic Illustrated is a visually exciting and easy-to- understand alternative to boring textbooks. Innovative design and lively illustrations transport readers back in time to witness these events and more:
*The changing lives of the Native Americans
*The abolishment of slavery
*The achievement of suffrage
*The scandals, wars, and assassinations of the twentieth century
*America's famous and infamous historical figures
Presented in a high-impact, graphic novel format, The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to U.S. History, Graphic Illustrated is a visually exciting and easy-to- understand alternative to boring textbooks. Innovative design and lively illustrations transport readers back in time to witness these events and more:
*The changing lives of the Native Americans
*The abolishment of slavery
*The achievement of suffrage
*The scandals, wars, and assassinations of the twentieth century
*America's famous and infamous historical figures
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2008
8 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Hite
128 books115 followersKenneth Hite (born September 15, 1965) is a writer and role-playing game designer. Author of Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents role-playing games, Hite has been announced as the lead designer of the upcoming 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 27, 2011
First off to the publishers of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To"
go F^(k yourselves!
heh heh
I resent this trademarked marketing ploy of insulting the reader.
That said, I did get this from the library so I am guilty of reading one of their books.
As a history refresher for someone who likes graphic novels this was very good.
But it IS NOT "AN ALTERNATIVE TO YOUR BORING TEXTBOOK" as is advertised.
In fact if it were,
than this book would be responsible for making MORE complete idiots and not fewer.
Each panel states an historical "fact" and then illustrates it with an image and the dialogue within the panel is usually a joke, sometimes to serve as an example, and other times to highlight one finer point.
As a "refresher" this works well for someone who already knows the history.
As a "history book that skips right to the good parts" it is an EPIC FAIL!
Everything is so oversimplified it ends up kinda stupid.
go F^(k yourselves!
heh heh
I resent this trademarked marketing ploy of insulting the reader.
That said, I did get this from the library so I am guilty of reading one of their books.
As a history refresher for someone who likes graphic novels this was very good.
But it IS NOT "AN ALTERNATIVE TO YOUR BORING TEXTBOOK" as is advertised.
In fact if it were,
than this book would be responsible for making MORE complete idiots and not fewer.
Each panel states an historical "fact" and then illustrates it with an image and the dialogue within the panel is usually a joke, sometimes to serve as an example, and other times to highlight one finer point.
As a "refresher" this works well for someone who already knows the history.
As a "history book that skips right to the good parts" it is an EPIC FAIL!
Everything is so oversimplified it ends up kinda stupid.
September 10, 2011
Very nice, but with a right-wing bias. Humorous, thorough, respectful of minorities and Native Americans, but ... said Thomas Jefferson was allied with "Republicans" -- repeated it six times without ever revealing those "Republicans" had nothing to do with the Republican Party. Painted everything FDR did as shady, even the New Deal and Social Security; and wrote off any responsibility Reagan had for Iran-Contra & the stratospheric rise in poverty & homelessness. Annoying, because overall I like it ... but that bias is pernicious.
January 5, 2013
“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to U.S History: Graphic Illustrated”, in many ways, is a worthwhile outline of some aspects of American history, though, in truth, it is a deeply flawed and deeply biased work. In general, there is a lot more labor history in this book than I expected (though some of Hite’s coverage of labor history is appalling), and that is a good thing. It is written in an often witty and sometimes genuinely humorous manner that actually in enjoyable to read, especially when accompanied with the illustrations of Hendrix. However, there is a very strange right-wing bias that pervades much of the work. For example, I have read many books on American history, and I have seldom read a more biased attack against FDR than Hite’s. He attacks FDR and his policies, from Social Security to all aspects of the New Deal and later Johnson’s Great Society programs mercilessly. Even more troubling, the last section—“Part Five” covering 1945-now, is actually titled “Tear Down this Wall”, and there is a long quote from Ronald Reagan beginning the chapter—evidence of the insipid and plastic idolatrous cult of this truly “Teflon” and demented icon for unbridled corporate avarice. As someone who grew up in the deteriorating “Rust Belt” of Michigan during the Reagan era and saw the country taken into 3 trillion dollars’ worth of debt under his bloated military expenditures, his support for the unprecedented rise of corrupt finance capital and unmitigated corporate power at the expense of the working class and poor, the perception that Reagan somehow saved America or the world is revolting to me morally and academically. He was the bad actor poster boy for corporate America, and much of our fall as a nation can be traced to policies that were put into place under his presidency. You would think the opposite in reading Hite’s near hagiographic writing on Reagan. There are more quotes from Reagan than any other historical figure in this book. Truly insipid. And the coverage of the right-wing Republican-backed policies of Clinton and George W. Bush make one wish the book had ended in the late ‘80’s.
There is some very good coverage of historical events that is not characteristic of someone who in other cases shows a right wing bias, and for others, well, it is near-fascist. For example, when dealing with the murder of protesters at Kent State and Jackson State, there seems like an attempt to justify the murders of protesters by National Guardsmen: “The invasion [of Cambodia] damaged the American war effort more than it did the North Vietnamese: radicals bombed or burned 30 ROTC buildings and campus protests exploded again. At Kent State and Jackson State, National Guard and police fired on protesters, killing six” (165). Again, I have read many books on American history from many perspectives, and have never seen a paragraph deal with these murders of unarmed protesters in this way. Hite makes it seem almost as if the National Guard and police were defending themselves. This is not the case. And he uses language that truly condones murder under the façade of objectivity. It seems that, in many ways, the book is more politically correct, updated for the 2000’s version of the right-wing pretense (not well acted) of “compassionate conservatism”. Hite is very confused about the history of the word “republican” and its associations throughout American history as well, using and misusing it with a little concern for truth and being fair and balanced as FOX News.
If you want a real history lesson, buy "A People's History of American Empire".
There is some very good coverage of historical events that is not characteristic of someone who in other cases shows a right wing bias, and for others, well, it is near-fascist. For example, when dealing with the murder of protesters at Kent State and Jackson State, there seems like an attempt to justify the murders of protesters by National Guardsmen: “The invasion [of Cambodia] damaged the American war effort more than it did the North Vietnamese: radicals bombed or burned 30 ROTC buildings and campus protests exploded again. At Kent State and Jackson State, National Guard and police fired on protesters, killing six” (165). Again, I have read many books on American history from many perspectives, and have never seen a paragraph deal with these murders of unarmed protesters in this way. Hite makes it seem almost as if the National Guard and police were defending themselves. This is not the case. And he uses language that truly condones murder under the façade of objectivity. It seems that, in many ways, the book is more politically correct, updated for the 2000’s version of the right-wing pretense (not well acted) of “compassionate conservatism”. Hite is very confused about the history of the word “republican” and its associations throughout American history as well, using and misusing it with a little concern for truth and being fair and balanced as FOX News.
If you want a real history lesson, buy "A People's History of American Empire".
October 24, 2015
A breath-taking run through U.S. History --- of the domestic kind --- in comic form. I found it way too rushed and quite ordinary, though I did chuckle a coupe of times.
The level of history taught is a very basic high-school level --- though it does cover the history of the U.S. from the revolutionary times to the election of Barack Obama as president. This is not surprising given that the audience of the book are complete idiots, and such people must be given a superstructure on which to hang details, nuances, and controversies later on --- if later on ever comes for them.
The history taught is fairly domestic. No real attempt is shown to place the U.S. into the context of world history, except insofar as world history intrudes upon domestic history. And an attempt is made to touch upon those cultural things which have a specific American flavor, such as jazz, the birth of mass production, and the birth of mass media indoctrination.
One significant problem that I have with the book --- and which may be inevitable given its aim and its audience --- is how it brushes away the atrocities that the U.S. has committed over its history under the subtext of humor. Thus the pillaging of Mexico --- while actually mentioned --- is merely an opportunity for laughs. Similarly with the other atrocities --- except perhaps the ones committed against African Americans. I guess race cannot be ignored in the U.S. given the significant role it has had in this country's history.
Also, while the introduction promises to weave the history of religion throughout, it never really delivers on that promise. Religion is still kept as a mere footnote to the political history of the U.S.
The level of history taught is a very basic high-school level --- though it does cover the history of the U.S. from the revolutionary times to the election of Barack Obama as president. This is not surprising given that the audience of the book are complete idiots, and such people must be given a superstructure on which to hang details, nuances, and controversies later on --- if later on ever comes for them.
The history taught is fairly domestic. No real attempt is shown to place the U.S. into the context of world history, except insofar as world history intrudes upon domestic history. And an attempt is made to touch upon those cultural things which have a specific American flavor, such as jazz, the birth of mass production, and the birth of mass media indoctrination.
One significant problem that I have with the book --- and which may be inevitable given its aim and its audience --- is how it brushes away the atrocities that the U.S. has committed over its history under the subtext of humor. Thus the pillaging of Mexico --- while actually mentioned --- is merely an opportunity for laughs. Similarly with the other atrocities --- except perhaps the ones committed against African Americans. I guess race cannot be ignored in the U.S. given the significant role it has had in this country's history.
Also, while the introduction promises to weave the history of religion throughout, it never really delivers on that promise. Religion is still kept as a mere footnote to the political history of the U.S.
May 3, 2010
This was by far one of the funnest books I've read in a really long time. Not only is it fun to read, but I think the author chooses some very essential parts of history, while throwing in some humor as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, be it a history buff, graphic novel enthusiast, or someone wanting a quick refresher on U.S. History.
May 18, 2015
What is is what it is, a very concise history of the U.S. Not very deep but well written and illustrated, a great and quick read. Entertaining, fun and occasionally thoughtful, showing the communicative power of comics too. AND funny. It doesn't get 4 stars as it is too brief, leaves you wanting more.
May 27, 2012
Excellent short and educating b/g to US history
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews