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American Passages: A History of the American People
Each chapter in this thorough, chronologically-organized book follows the contours of sequence, event, and connection, emphasizing the most significant events and changes of the period covered. Politics, economics, and culture are woven into an interrelated pattern, focusing the reader's attention on the way various facets of history interact and connect. This logical approach makes for a uniquely engaging, accurate presentation of American history.
- GenresNonfiction
1280 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1999
About the author
Edward L. Ayers
90 books50 followersEdward Ayers is President Emeritus of the University of Richmond, where he now serves as Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities. Previously Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia, where he began teaching in 1980, Ayers was named the National Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2003.
A historian of the American South, Ayers has written and edited 10 books. The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America won the Bancroft Prize for distinguished writing in American history and the Beveridge Prize for the best book in English on the history of the Americas since 1492. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2013.
A pioneer in digital history, Ayers created "The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War," a website that has attracted millions of users and won major prizes in the teaching of history. He serves as co-editor of the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States at the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab and is a co-host of BackStory with the American History Guys, a nationally syndicated radio show and podcast.
Ayers has received a presidential appointment to the National Council on the Humanities, served as a Fulbright professor in the Netherlands, and been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
A historian of the American South, Ayers has written and edited 10 books. The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In the Presence of Mine Enemies: Civil War in the Heart of America won the Bancroft Prize for distinguished writing in American history and the Beveridge Prize for the best book in English on the history of the Americas since 1492. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2013.
A pioneer in digital history, Ayers created "The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War," a website that has attracted millions of users and won major prizes in the teaching of history. He serves as co-editor of the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States at the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab and is a co-host of BackStory with the American History Guys, a nationally syndicated radio show and podcast.
Ayers has received a presidential appointment to the National Council on the Humanities, served as a Fulbright professor in the Netherlands, and been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 14, 2017
As a whole, it is a very good book for going throughout American history from beginning to present, though in some sections, the Author seems to have a very, very obvious bias against certain Presidents and people, notably being against President Reagan and President George H. W. Bush.
Things to Note:
In Chapter 31: "From Reagan to Clinton
-No discussion on Reagan's role in the fall of the Berlin Wall
-Little discussion on the substance of Reagan's speeches, contrary to others such as FDR
-Glosses over the overwhelming landslide for Reagan in the 1984 Presidential Election, just a mere few sentences
-Seems to overplay the Iran-Contra Affair
-Seems to neglect Reagan's popularity during much of his term, rather focusing on his policies and how they "ended badly"
Overall
-Tends to not use official names of treaties, rather just using a date and stating that "a treaty" was signed...
-etc.
It goes to say that in sections like these, though they do not seem prevalent, it would do a reader well to read through another source on that area rather than this book. It is a good book as a whole, just, a reader would have a much better understanding of American History as a whole with using readings other than just this book while reading this
Things to Note:
In Chapter 31: "From Reagan to Clinton
-No discussion on Reagan's role in the fall of the Berlin Wall
-Little discussion on the substance of Reagan's speeches, contrary to others such as FDR
-Glosses over the overwhelming landslide for Reagan in the 1984 Presidential Election, just a mere few sentences
-Seems to overplay the Iran-Contra Affair
-Seems to neglect Reagan's popularity during much of his term, rather focusing on his policies and how they "ended badly"
Overall
-Tends to not use official names of treaties, rather just using a date and stating that "a treaty" was signed...
-etc.
It goes to say that in sections like these, though they do not seem prevalent, it would do a reader well to read through another source on that area rather than this book. It is a good book as a whole, just, a reader would have a much better understanding of American History as a whole with using readings other than just this book while reading this
Displaying 1 of 1 review