The Making Of America

Rating:
Summary: Direct and straightforward and highly readable
Review: Enhanced with a Foreword by First Lady Laura Bush, The Making Of America: The History Of The United States From 1492 To The Present by historian Robert D. Johnston (Associate Professor of History and American Studies, Yale University) is an impressively written history of America ranging from Columbus' voyage through national independence, two world wars, and down to the present day. Maps, photographs, and even historical cartoons add visual impact to this direct and straightforward and highly readable historical summary, which is fascinating to simply browse through -- especially for those whose high school history classes were a long time ago.

Rating:
Summary: Politically correct
Review: If you are looking for a book that reinforces the "politally correct" bias taught in most public schools, this is it! While the photographs and layout of the book are attractive to look at, if you actually read the text, you will find that it finds fault with Americans on every major issue; from calling some of the founding fathers "hypocrites," to siding with the Indians in our quest to settle America, to focusing on all the negative aspects of WWII, such as the internment of Japanese-Americans, rather than the positive aspects of how we freed the world from the Nazi regime, to pro feminism, very liberal text. If you are proud of our American heritage, and the Christian principles our country was founded on, this book is not for you. I was very disappointed. There is so much that is great about our country, but this book doesn't emphasize it!