The Growth of the American Republic (Volume II)

Rating:
Summary: good luck
Review: I am a high school student and i have enroled in the AP American History course for my junior year. It was quite intimidating to recieve this book and another one on my first day while being told that i had to read 7 chapters in 9 days. The burden of reading almost 190 pages of this book in such a short period of time was no little thing. However the great style and " followablility" of the book helped a lot. normaly i would have just stopped reading, but this book kept me interested. It is what i would say the history book to read, whether it's for personal knowledge or school.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Insight into our history
Review: I am a high-school student enrolled in the Advanced Placement United States History course, and have been reading this book all year long. I have thoroughly enjoyed the authors' in depth analysis of the forces, attitudes, and personalities that have shaped the history of our country, and hope that many more students interested in American History will pick up a copy of this book and derive the same edification from it that I have

Rating:
Summary: Good, but sometimes objectivity is clouded...
Review: Overall, it is good, but the second volume covering late 19th century and 20th century really lacks clarity and objectivity. Though, I rather enjoyed the first volume, which covers American history from colonial times to the Civil War. However, it too is tainted by the authors offering too much perspective on who they think the heroes and villians are. I think the founding founders should be understood on their own terms and not subjected to so much hyperbole and conjecture as to their motives and beliefs. I do, however, find this work to be quite informative and a valuable reference overall. Though, I find the second volume lacking and full of ideological conjecture regarding public policies. (These historians aren't the most astute economists in the world. They find little wrong in FDR's paying farmers to destroy their crops and his grand strategy of bringing America out of the Depression by cutting producitivity and channeling the bulk of stimulative investment capital through government channels. They extol his policies too much.) Furthermore, the second volume is far too patronizing of FDR and Wilson.

Rating:
Summary: good luck
Review: This book is a classic deserving of that title. What is it that makes it truly extraordinary?

Lucidity, clarity, and topical broadness make this work particularly impressive. Though it looks like a standard college freshman text, it doesn't read that way. You're not likely to read it cover to cover like a novel, but it's perfect for grabbing off the shelf after having watched that jingoistic Hollywood production of American history, or as a primer for indulging in more penetrating American history scholarship.

It's not perfect. The regional sympathies of the primary author (Morison) are revealed from time to time. This book belongs to the Plymouth Rock School of history--the branch that teaches that everything lasting and good in American history came to New England around 1620, after St. Augustine, after Roanoke, after Jamestown. The 1840 map of the United States given on pg. 447 makes a gross error in misrepresenting the population of New Orleans, third largest city in the country at the time. Something tells me that Boston or Philadelphia would have never been overlooked in such a case. Serious students would do well to consult Woodward, Ayers, or even Philips with regard to Southern topics.

Rating:
Summary: meaty and very worthwhile
Review: This book is a classic of course. Doubtless it has been assigned as homework far more frequently than it has been read for pleasure and self-improvement. The real surprise is how well it rewards the careful reader. I think it will be slow going for anyone who is not already well read in American History, but it repays the effort on every page. Pick it up any time you need some perspective on events troublesome or puzzling in American public life. You will not be disappointed. One particular recurrent theme throughout this book is the idea that Americans have (or at least had) a peculiar genius for self-government that gave us the upper hand in so many struggles.

Rating:
Summary: American History Student
Review: We used Volumes I and II of this book in my AP US History class this year. I found these books to be more interesting and easier to enjoy than the general textbook. They go more in depth and offer a greater understanding. At times they are a little hard to follow - but that may have been a result of not really paying attention while I was reading... oops. Hey it's homework, give me a break. Anyway, they're good books - ROCK ON COMMAGER!