American Stories: A History of the United States

by H.W. Brands, T.H. Breen, R. Hal Williams

Based on the idea that you can't cover (and don't want to) everything in a survey course, H.W. Brands and a team of award-winning historians present the story of American history in a refreshing new way.   American A History of the United States  concentrates on the topics most commonly taught in an American history survey course, with a focus on the major themes and the connections between them. A unique pedagogical program developed and implemented by instructional designers provides a consistent structure for students as the story of American history unfolds.  

Genres: History, Nonfiction

445 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2008

About the author

H.W. Brands is an acclaimed American historian and author of over thirty books on U.S. history, including Pulitzer Prize finalists The First American and Traitor to His Class. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD. Originally trained in mathematics, Brands turned to history as a way to pursue his passion for writing. His biographical works on figures like Franklin, Jackson, Grant, and both Roosevelts have earned critical and popular praise for their readability and depth. Raised in Oregon and educated at Stanford, Reed College, and Portland State, he began his teaching career in high schools before entering academia. He later taught at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt before returning to UT Austin. Brands challenges conventional reverence for the Founding Fathers, advocating for a more progressive and evolving view of American democracy. In addition to academic works, his commentary has featured in major documentaries. His books, published internationally and translated into multiple languages, examine U.S. political, economic, and cultural development with compelling narrative force. Beyond academia, he is a public intellectual contributing to national conversations on history and governance.

Reviews

[Todd Luallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the textbook for my US History class. The book was provided at the bookstore in plastic wrapped 3-ring binder format (no cover, just the pages, so you have to get your own binder) and it still cost $60. I hate the high cost of text books, especially when there are so many other books out there that are just as good as a much better price. Anyhow, this book reads very easily and the images and accompanying inserts are informative and useful. It is supposed to come with some companion videos that you can access with a special code, but apparently my teacher did give us the code, because when I tried to use the code on the site, it didn't work and the helpdesk stated I needed a special link to use it. All in all it's a big hassle to get some extra videos that probably could be viewed on YouTube anyhow.

Pros: Easy to read, good information, good illustrations and companion inserts.
Cons: Expensive (as are all textbooks), no cover, videos require a bunch of hurdle jumping to view...something I never managed to finish.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.