American Realities, Volume I: Historical Episodes from First Settlements to the Civil War

by J. William T. Youngs

Highly regarded for its excellent writing, American Realities, is a well-respected secondary source collection that uses a unique anecdotal style and focuses on the important people and events in our country's history. The book covers political, social, and cultural issues, events and individuals. MARKET Appropriate for anyone interested in American history. 7

Genres: History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Guy]

I took classes with Dr. Youngs and it was there I learned about Capt. William Wheeler and the 13th NY Artillery. Some of my research about Capt. Wheeler was included in the 3rd edition, and future editions, of the series. It was from this start that my own book on the 13th NY Artillery was written.

It should be remembered that Dr. Youngs has his biases and that not everything is included or discussed about the people he is dealing with. That said, it is a good survey of each era that is being written about. I'd recommend checking it out from the library rather than buying it first.

[Marie]

I decided to use this for my US Survey course. This gives my students short episodes in early American history that give them a sense of what life was like for early Americans. Easy to read, with important id terms and study questions. I found a few mistakes- for instance we know that Sergeant Floyd died of an appendicitis during the Lewis and Clark expedition- but overall I found it informative and historically current.