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The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. 2: Since 1877

by Joseph L. Locke

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2026

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Reader said: " I'm not one to review books. I'm not one to put myself out online. I'm not one to tell others what they should or shouldn't read and write. That's none of my business - I've read Ray Bradbury's writing, and believe whole-heartedly that there should u I'm not one to review books. I'm not one to put myself out online. I'm not one to tell others what they should or shouldn't read and write. That's none of my business - I've read Ray Bradbury's writing, and believe whole-heartedly that there should under no circumstance be full censorship of writing of any kind.

Now you're probably expecting for there to be a "but" - so here it is:
This book is not a history book - it is an opinion piece with well-formatted reference pages at the end of each essay. Joseph Locke and Ben Wright accomplished the writing not of "the American Yawp", but of their own uniquely biased yawp. The same could be said for volume one, though I found volume two to be wildly more repulsive. I'm saying all this as someone who read this book not of my own accord but to fulfill curriculum standards at my college: they are a shame to the book's namesake and to Whitman's poetry.
History, we know, at its purist form is entirely objective- it cannot be relative unless you evaluate it from individual experience which we know to be faulty. This is the beginning of Locke's error. The American Yawp as we know it cites history as relative and being from the point of view which suits a certain narrative. (I don't know about you, but I prefer my accounts of history to be unbiased.)
I went into this book understanding that I may hold qualms with portrayals of certain political figures, opinions on wars, etc, but the vulgarness with which this book describes nothing but that which suits itself is repulsive.
History, especially American history, can be simultaneously beautiful and ugly - that is the theme of humanity, after all - but only when described as according to itself. There's nothing wrong with historic accounts from one's point of view - name any first century or BCE author who didn't - but the point I'm trying to get at is that modern history must be cited in a modern way. We must be unbiased and strictly factual in our account, we must not add anything which is extra to the narrative.
This is the way myself and my fellow students must write, I expect my educators to do the same.

I write this review not as a disgruntled netizen but as a wholly frustrated and saddened student longing for the true spirit of knowledge to be brought back to education. The American Yawp is more worthy of study and discussion in a creative writing course than that of American History. ...more "

Apr 27, 2026 01:30PM · see review