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America: A Narrative History
With nearly a million copies sold over five editions, America: A Narrative History is distinguished by its clear, colorful narrative and balanced incorporation of political history with social, cultural, and economic events. Retaining these classic strengths, the Sixth Edition introduces a new theme—the role of work in American life—and explores its social, political, and cultural dimensions. With an updated ancillary package that includes the new Norton Map Workbook in American History, America remains a superb choice for the US history survey.
Author Biography: George Brown Tindall, Kenan Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina, has for many years been one of the country's most distinguished professors of American history. He is the author of several books, including South Carolina Negros, 1877-1900; the award-winning The Emergence of the New South, 1913-1945; The Disruption of the Solid South; and, most recently, The Ethnic Southerners. David E. Shi is president and professor of history at Furman University. Professor Shi was the Frontis W. Johnston Professor of History at Davidson College for more than a decade. His four books focus on American cultural history: Matthew Josephson, Bourgeois Bohemian; The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture; In Search of the Simple Life: American Voices, Past and Present; and, most recently, Facing Facts: Realism in American Thought and Culture.
165 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
About the author
George Brown Tindall
27 books7 followersGeorge Brown Tindall was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1958 until his retirement in 1990. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Furman University in 1942 and, after service in the Army Air Force in World War II, earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 1, 2017
It may be because I'm older and more focused, but this is the first time in my life I've enjoyed reading a US history textbook.
June 26, 2017
First started reading February 1, 2017 – and finished February 20, 2017
Chock full of detail (a bit too much, sometimes) and informative stories, some alarmingly relevant. Makes me think.
Virginia, as King Charles I put it, was "founded upon smoke." Tobacco production soared during the 17th century. Governor Leonard Calvert in 1629 wrote: In Virginia and Maryland, Tobacco is our Staple is our All, and indeed leaves no room for anything else."
From their early leadership in the production of pine tar from the resin of southern pine trees, North Carolinians would earn the nickname of Tar Heels.
Benjamin Franklin, who served as deputy postmaster for the colonies from 1753-1774, sped up the service with shorter routes and night-traveling post riders.
More reliable mail delivery gave rise to newspapers in the 18th century. Before 1745, 22 newspapers had been started: 7 in New England, 10 in the middle colonies, and 5 in the South. An important landmark in the progress of freedom of the press was John Peter Zenger's trial for publishing criticisms of New York's governor in his newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was imprisoned for 10 months and brought to trial in 1735. English common law held that one might be punished for "libel" or criticism that fostered "an ill opinion of the government." Zenger's lawyer started the court with his claim that the editor had published the truth -- which the judge ruled an unacceptable defense. The jury, however, held the editor not guilty. The libel law remained standing as before, but editors thereafter were emboldened to criticize officials more freely.
Like the European Deists, Ben Franklin came to believe in a God that had created a universe animated by natural laws, laws that inquisitive people could discern through the use of reason.
Franklin and other like-minded thinkers, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, derived an outlook of hope and optimism from modern science and Enlightenment rationalism. Such enlightened thinking founded on freedom of thought and expression, clashed with the religious assumptions that had shaped Puritan New England in the 17th century. The 18th century Enlightenment thus set in motion intellectual forces in the colonies that challenged the "truthfulness" of revealed religion and the logic of Christian faith. Those modern forces, however, would inspire stern resistance among the defenders of religious orthodoxy.
The Great Awakening implanted in American culture the evangelical impulse and the emotional appeal of revivalism. The movement weakened the status of the old-fashioned clergy and state-supported churches, encouraged believers to exercise their own judgment, and thereby weakened habits of deference generally. By encouraging the proliferation of denominations, it heightened the need for toleration of dissent. Both the Awakening and the Enlightenment, between the urgings of the spirit and the logic of reason, emphasized the power and right of individual decision making, and both aroused millennial hopes that America would become the promised land in which people might attain the perfection of piety or reason, if not both.
The Dominion of New England was scarcely established before the Glorious Revolution erupted in England in 1688. The new British monarchs, William and Mary, were determined to reassert royal control in America. This had significant longterm effects on American history in that the Bill of Rights and the Act of Toleration, passed in England in 1689, influenced attitudes and events in the colonies. Even ore significant, the overthrow of King James II set a precedent for the removal of a hated monarch. The justification for revolution appeared in 1690 when the English philosopher John Locke: published his Two Treatises on Government. This had enormous impact on political thought in the colonies. Locke refuted the prevailing theories of the "divine" right of kings to govern with absolute power. He also insisted that people are endowed with "natural rights"to life, liberty, and property. The need to protect those "natural" rights led people to establish governments. When rulers failed to protect the property and lives of their subjects, Locke argued, the people had the right -- in extreme cases -- to overthrow the monarch and change the government.
[Sound familiar?}
In late 1753, George Washington with an experience guide and a few others, made his way (from Virginia) by horseback, foot, canoe, and raft the 450 miles to Fort Le Boeuf (just south of Lake Erie, in northwest Pennsylvania). He gave the French commander in the French and Indian War a note from the Virginia governor demanding that they withdraw from the Ohio Country. After the French captain rejected the request, Washington trudged home through deepening snow, having accomplished nothing in "as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to conceive."
Additional notes from Jun 2017
The Great Biological Exchange
The exchange of plant life worked an even greater change than the animals (eg, iguana, bison, hummingbirds), a revolution in the diets of both hemispheres. Before, 3 main staples of the modern diet were unknown in the Old World: maize, potatoes (sweet and white), and many kinds of beans (snap, kidney, lima, and others). The white potato, though commonly called "Irish," actually migrated from South America to Europe, and only reached North America with the Scotch-Irish immigrants of the 1700s. New World foods included: manioc (chiefly consumed in the US as tapioca, but soon a staple in tropical Africa), peanuts, squash, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, sassafras, papaya, guava, avocado, cacao, and chicle. Europeans introduced rice, wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes, melons, coffee, olives, bananas, "Kentucky" bluegrass, daisies and dandelions.
16th century knowledge of the interior came mostly from would-be conquistadores who sought but found little to plunder in the hinterlands.
Calvinism required a stern moral code, for the outward sign of true faith was correct behavior.
The Spanish galleons could not cope with the smaller and faster English vessels commanded by Drake and others. Defeat of the Spanish Armada marked the beginning of English supremacy on the sea and cleared the way for English colonization. It was the climactic event of Elizabeth's reign, and brought to a crescendo the surging patriotism that had been born of the epic conflict with Spain. The great literature of the Elizabethan age reflected a spirit of confidence and pride. Shakespeare, especially, celebrated the glories of the House of Tudor and linked them to the spirit of the nation: This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." England was in the springtime of her power, filled with a youthful zest for new worlds and new wonders that were opening up before the nation.
In the course of their history, the English people have displayed a genius for "muddling through," a gift for the pragmatic compromise that defied logic but in the light of experience somehow worked.
For Washington's arm at Valley Forge, the winter of 1777-8, had been a season of suffering far worse than the previous winter at Morristown. While the great diplomatic achievement was maturing in Paris, the American force, encamped near Philadelphia, endured hunger, cold, and disease. Many deserted or resigned their commissions. Washington had to commandeer foodstuffs. The winter was marked by dissension in Congress and the army, and by an impulse to make Washington the scapegoat for the Patriots' plight. Despite rumors of a movement to replace him, there seems never to have developed any concerted effort to do so.
Chock full of detail (a bit too much, sometimes) and informative stories, some alarmingly relevant. Makes me think.
Virginia, as King Charles I put it, was "founded upon smoke." Tobacco production soared during the 17th century. Governor Leonard Calvert in 1629 wrote: In Virginia and Maryland, Tobacco is our Staple is our All, and indeed leaves no room for anything else."
From their early leadership in the production of pine tar from the resin of southern pine trees, North Carolinians would earn the nickname of Tar Heels.
Benjamin Franklin, who served as deputy postmaster for the colonies from 1753-1774, sped up the service with shorter routes and night-traveling post riders.
More reliable mail delivery gave rise to newspapers in the 18th century. Before 1745, 22 newspapers had been started: 7 in New England, 10 in the middle colonies, and 5 in the South. An important landmark in the progress of freedom of the press was John Peter Zenger's trial for publishing criticisms of New York's governor in his newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was imprisoned for 10 months and brought to trial in 1735. English common law held that one might be punished for "libel" or criticism that fostered "an ill opinion of the government." Zenger's lawyer started the court with his claim that the editor had published the truth -- which the judge ruled an unacceptable defense. The jury, however, held the editor not guilty. The libel law remained standing as before, but editors thereafter were emboldened to criticize officials more freely.
Like the European Deists, Ben Franklin came to believe in a God that had created a universe animated by natural laws, laws that inquisitive people could discern through the use of reason.
Franklin and other like-minded thinkers, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, derived an outlook of hope and optimism from modern science and Enlightenment rationalism. Such enlightened thinking founded on freedom of thought and expression, clashed with the religious assumptions that had shaped Puritan New England in the 17th century. The 18th century Enlightenment thus set in motion intellectual forces in the colonies that challenged the "truthfulness" of revealed religion and the logic of Christian faith. Those modern forces, however, would inspire stern resistance among the defenders of religious orthodoxy.
The Great Awakening implanted in American culture the evangelical impulse and the emotional appeal of revivalism. The movement weakened the status of the old-fashioned clergy and state-supported churches, encouraged believers to exercise their own judgment, and thereby weakened habits of deference generally. By encouraging the proliferation of denominations, it heightened the need for toleration of dissent. Both the Awakening and the Enlightenment, between the urgings of the spirit and the logic of reason, emphasized the power and right of individual decision making, and both aroused millennial hopes that America would become the promised land in which people might attain the perfection of piety or reason, if not both.
The Dominion of New England was scarcely established before the Glorious Revolution erupted in England in 1688. The new British monarchs, William and Mary, were determined to reassert royal control in America. This had significant longterm effects on American history in that the Bill of Rights and the Act of Toleration, passed in England in 1689, influenced attitudes and events in the colonies. Even ore significant, the overthrow of King James II set a precedent for the removal of a hated monarch. The justification for revolution appeared in 1690 when the English philosopher John Locke: published his Two Treatises on Government. This had enormous impact on political thought in the colonies. Locke refuted the prevailing theories of the "divine" right of kings to govern with absolute power. He also insisted that people are endowed with "natural rights"to life, liberty, and property. The need to protect those "natural" rights led people to establish governments. When rulers failed to protect the property and lives of their subjects, Locke argued, the people had the right -- in extreme cases -- to overthrow the monarch and change the government.
[Sound familiar?}
In late 1753, George Washington with an experience guide and a few others, made his way (from Virginia) by horseback, foot, canoe, and raft the 450 miles to Fort Le Boeuf (just south of Lake Erie, in northwest Pennsylvania). He gave the French commander in the French and Indian War a note from the Virginia governor demanding that they withdraw from the Ohio Country. After the French captain rejected the request, Washington trudged home through deepening snow, having accomplished nothing in "as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to conceive."
Additional notes from Jun 2017
The Great Biological Exchange
The exchange of plant life worked an even greater change than the animals (eg, iguana, bison, hummingbirds), a revolution in the diets of both hemispheres. Before, 3 main staples of the modern diet were unknown in the Old World: maize, potatoes (sweet and white), and many kinds of beans (snap, kidney, lima, and others). The white potato, though commonly called "Irish," actually migrated from South America to Europe, and only reached North America with the Scotch-Irish immigrants of the 1700s. New World foods included: manioc (chiefly consumed in the US as tapioca, but soon a staple in tropical Africa), peanuts, squash, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, sassafras, papaya, guava, avocado, cacao, and chicle. Europeans introduced rice, wheat, barley, oats, wine grapes, melons, coffee, olives, bananas, "Kentucky" bluegrass, daisies and dandelions.
16th century knowledge of the interior came mostly from would-be conquistadores who sought but found little to plunder in the hinterlands.
Calvinism required a stern moral code, for the outward sign of true faith was correct behavior.
The Spanish galleons could not cope with the smaller and faster English vessels commanded by Drake and others. Defeat of the Spanish Armada marked the beginning of English supremacy on the sea and cleared the way for English colonization. It was the climactic event of Elizabeth's reign, and brought to a crescendo the surging patriotism that had been born of the epic conflict with Spain. The great literature of the Elizabethan age reflected a spirit of confidence and pride. Shakespeare, especially, celebrated the glories of the House of Tudor and linked them to the spirit of the nation: This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." England was in the springtime of her power, filled with a youthful zest for new worlds and new wonders that were opening up before the nation.
In the course of their history, the English people have displayed a genius for "muddling through," a gift for the pragmatic compromise that defied logic but in the light of experience somehow worked.
For Washington's arm at Valley Forge, the winter of 1777-8, had been a season of suffering far worse than the previous winter at Morristown. While the great diplomatic achievement was maturing in Paris, the American force, encamped near Philadelphia, endured hunger, cold, and disease. Many deserted or resigned their commissions. Washington had to commandeer foodstuffs. The winter was marked by dissension in Congress and the army, and by an impulse to make Washington the scapegoat for the Patriots' plight. Despite rumors of a movement to replace him, there seems never to have developed any concerted effort to do so.
February 25, 2022
“…the lessons of history are not simple lessons, that history is a complex and elusive subject, and that one should be on guard immediately against theories of single causation or pronouncements that begin “History proves….”, p. xiii
January 16, 2014
This book is a great non-biased (at least as much as possible) history of America from both the European and American Indian side. I really enjoyed reading it because it didn't make any one side out to be the bad or good guy. In the end this book allows you to make up your own mind about it.
November 14, 2012
Good narrative but it honestly tortured me out of sanity. Stupid Tinshi....
March 26, 2023
This book provided a good outline of American history with several things I had never thought about before or knew. It both provided a good outline and good details in several places. It ended after Reconstruction, so everything led up to the Civil War as a sort of thesis sentence, but it talked about the banking system and creating money a lot, and things that are important to creating a new country. This book didn't shy away from America's sins against Native Americans, African Americans, and women, while still portraying America as, in general, a positive light, at least after the French and Indian War. I am looking forward to reading the second volume of this series.
April 30, 2025
If you’re in the mood to read 2000 pages to understand roughly everything about American history, this is probably the book for you. The author is generally evenhanded and sticks with the canonical interpretation of most historical events. I felt comfortably able to give lessons after reading the chapters of this book because each gives an understandable narrative with enough small details and anecdotes to keep things interesting. The organization of the chapters can sometimes be difficult, as it dips in and out of chronological order to illustrate broader themes, which is necessary on a topic so large. Overall worthwhile as a teaching or studying guide.
December 4, 2025
Hi, I just read your story and OMG it was actually FIRE. Fr tho, while reading my brain was in full-on IMAGINATION MODE
I'm an artist and I take commissions for Webtoons, Comics, Manga & Character/Cover Art. Not gonna lie dude but your story would look insane as a comic or webtoon, and I wanna be the one to do it. No pressure at all, just thought it could be super dope to bring it to life visually.
If you're down or wanna see some of my work, hit me up on Discord (eve_verse). Hope to hear from u soon!
Regards,
Evelyn
I'm an artist and I take commissions for Webtoons, Comics, Manga & Character/Cover Art. Not gonna lie dude but your story would look insane as a comic or webtoon, and I wanna be the one to do it. No pressure at all, just thought it could be super dope to bring it to life visually.
If you're down or wanna see some of my work, hit me up on Discord (eve_verse). Hope to hear from u soon!
Regards,
Evelyn
December 9, 2017
Not going to lie, I was forced to read this for my college American history course. But, that still gives me the right to say it was very bland, and, without a doubt, one of the most boring texts I've read. And I love history.
Look out American History 1151 students, you've got this to look forward to.
Look out American History 1151 students, you've got this to look forward to.
May 29, 2018
I was a great narrative and I enjoyed it. I did find some areas of contradiction. But we are talking very early American history here. As time marches on, it's harder to access the primary sources that help us to dissect events.
900-999-geography-history
November 20, 2019973
February 2, 2021
It was a great book, lots of interesting facts about US history. Cant wait to read the second volume.
September 6, 2021
America: A Narrative History, Volume 1 (Paperback)
by George Brown Tindall
by George Brown Tindall
December 21, 2022
i don’t hate this book, i hate this class.
June 26, 2011
This is a very enjoyable history text. The narrative style and chronological-thematic organization is more effective than most introductory history texts I've read. I've especially enjoyed the authors' ability to maintain coherent flow in the text along with a global view of events. Maybe I've just missed it in other textbooks, but the analyses of economic and religious aspects of American history are particularly interesting. I'm looking forward to volume 2, and then to hitting some of the volumes mentioned in the list of suggested further readings.
December 21, 2011
Overall, this is a good introductory history textbook for early American history. Of course all history textbooks have their drawbacks; however, America: A Narrative History makes up for any drawbacks with adequate coverage of most subjects. One major issue of history textbooks I've used in the past was that the authors didn't cover certain subjects, topics, events, and laws well enough. As a result, students turned to wikipedia. I believe the authors have done a good enough job to prevent most students from turning to wikipedia.
May 26, 2012
This is the first history book I can honestly say I did not mind reading, and understood what was being said. Having it written as a story instead of just random information cause me to learn more in college than I ever did throughout school in my earlier years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, as I was excited to finally understand history and what was really going on. I am sure if I really understood history through high school, reading this might have been daunting but I was eager to learn it all.
December 11, 2009
The textbook for my Early American History Class. I really liked the book and was glad to add it to my collection. While it is a textbook and wouldn't typically be read for enjoyment, I found the melange of illustrations, maps, cartoons, and portraits to be satisfactory. Questions on each page conger up the most important ideas of that page. I found that to be rather unique. I believe that it will make a good reference book for further studies.
July 30, 2008
Very interesting approach to American History. I had to read this book for a college class that I took this summer. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a different approach to American history.
January 17, 2015
i just want to state that this popped up in my recommended books based on a random, like, fantasy kids' book. how. how, goodreads, does this relate to that.
but we totally used it in my american history i class sophomore year and it was really good so there's that.
goodreads is creepy.
but we totally used it in my american history i class sophomore year and it was really good so there's that.
goodreads is creepy.
May 26, 2008
Good, balanced history of the US through the Civil War. I was impressed by the lack of politics and opinions.
June 27, 2008
Read as a main guide for APUSH prep. I like the structure and style better than any US history textbook I have found to date. It reads quite well and is very well organized.
Read
March 1, 2016Yes, it was a textbook, but it was a GOOD textbook. I'd like to think I would have read it on my own.
May 4, 2011
U.S. History I.
June 11, 2011
Not bad as far as textbooks go. I love history, so I quite enjoyed it. And yes, I read every word.
April 30, 2012
I read this for a history class that I was taking. It was fairly easy to read and I learned a lot from it.
June 29, 2013
First history book I've ever read. I actually enjoyed most of it....except that I would be tested on it later.
May 14, 2014
A balanced, nuanced, and sweeping account of American history. It is technically a textbook but it rises above this to become a historical classic.
November 18, 2014
Course book for my American History class. Informative.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews