United States History, Volume 1: Taking Sides - Clashing Views in United States History, Volume 1: The Colonial Period to Reconstruction

by Larry Madaras, James M. SoRelle

This THIRTEENTH EDITION of TAKING CLASHING VIEWS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, VOLUME 1 presents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor’s manual with testing material is available online for each volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Education

408 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1999

Reviews

[Jennifer]

This book wasn't quite what I expected. It's designed primarily to be used as a textbook. It that capacity, it has some potential. The editors do a good job of emphasizing that history is not just a set of facts, but also involves interpretation of the facts. They also draw on essays that offer a range of historical methods to give students a better idea of how historians approach questions. Each "controversy" is introduced with some contextual material and summed up with a solid historiography. At times the editors are a bit one sided in their critiques of the two "opposing" views. I put "opposing" in quotation marks because the two essays selected for each controversy didn't always fit the imposed dichotomy. There were a few essays that barely addressed the question to which they were connected, or did so only tangentially. All-in-all, however, the book serves as a good starting point for looking at different interpretations of history and how to critique them.

[Elaine]

This book is an exercise in critical thinking for older students. It was an excellent resource for my son's AP U.S. History debates. So I picked it up and read it. Interesting topics and discussions. Some better than others, but then isn't that the point?