What Every American Should Know about American History: 200 Events That Shaped the Nation

by Alan Axelrod, Charles Phillips

This "anti-textbook" presents 200 of the most significant events in U.S. history in a refreshingly objective approach, easily browsed for short or long periods, with icons delineating every entry. A unique, accessible, enjoyable volume which explains how things turned out the way they did--in a nation forever reinventing itself.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Alan Axelrod, Ph.D., is a prolific author of history, business and management books. As of October 2018, he had written more than 150 books, as noted in an online introduction by Lynn Ware Peek before an interview with Axelrod on the National Public Radio station KPCW. Axelrod resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Reviews

[Tiffanie Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this little treasure. I hated history when I was in HS and college cuz I never had good teachers. They were boring. So I confess my ignorance on much of our US history. This book— all short summaries was helpful, eye opening in some aspects and easy to read. The book is dated so it ends essentially with 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I’m honored and amazed that I witnessed that history first hand. I was traveling with Up With People the entire year of 1989 and we altered our travel to perform in Berlin after the fall of the wall. I’ll never forget the ragged East Berliners, their dark, soiled clothes and tears of joy on their eye seeing our group of young adults from 64 countries singing and dancing in bright colors.

[Jeff Mauch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is exactly what you'd expect, a very brief summary of the 200 most influential events in American history. From assassinations and the red scare to Iran Contra and the amendments that shaped the rights of those in this country. I don't think any one topic spread out much further that four pages and most were a page and a half at most, but they were solid summaries of the important point of each event. I can't say it's recommended reading or anything, but it's well put together and there weren't any major omissions that I noticed.

[Raymond Hwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice summary of many important events of American History.

[Karen Thaler · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting

[MaryAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading short synopses of significant events in US history. Downsides- 1- The last event is the ending of the Cold War (a function of the publication date) and 2- Quite a bit of editorializing about the events. Upsides - 1- Brought back memories (1960s+) and 2- Helps make today’s events not look as horrible as they seem. I’d like to see an updated version that includes more recent events.

[James S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something to be said for humble books like What Every American Should Know about American History. In single-topic history books, the key events are often buried under an avalanche of detail. Not so with books like these, which by their nature must simplify. With simplicity comes clarity. I've found that it's possible learn more about an event from a brief summary than from a 1000-page book.

Besides all that, this particular general history is opinionated and pugnacious and has its own moments of insight, like calling the James Gang "romantic terrorists" (169), or calling the UN a "debating society for third-world countries" (293), or the ironic phrasing in this sentence about Kent State: "Responding to an American public outraged by the four deaths at home and the 750,000-odd deaths abroad, Congress cut off funds" (329).

I'm sure that most people would learn a few things from this book. Recommended.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ummmm. how to rate this? It was a history book for school and definitely not something I would've picked up on my own to read. I learned a lot of important things about America. It was written well and wasn't boring to read. I didn't exactly enjoy reading it because I read it for school over the summer which isn't all that fun. Overall I thought it was good, but I felt like it was missing some key events in our nation's history, all the while highlighting some events that weren't as important as what was missing.

[Ddickel]

I am reading this book with a friend in the Philippines--as a way to improve his english. This book is broken into 225 standalone sections. We will read a section independently and then each night discuss it on line. Should be good for his english and understanding of american history and good for improving my understanding of american history!

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters each tell about a significant historical event. Special attention is taken with the types of issues (racial, etc.) that may not have received their due attention in history classes of our childhood. It's a nice, easy read.

[Judie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little summaries of historical events.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and great for anyone looking for a bathroom read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting short vignettes of American History.

[Steven Belanger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting the way that pop-up videos are: They tell you little snippets of info that you kinda knew, thought you knew, or should've known, or did know, and forgot. Good bathroom reading.