tntgoodwin Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 These are some of the various options I am looking at to educate myself more on US history. I am wondering if anyone has used any of these, and what you thought of them. I posted this in the self-education subforum...but that place gets very little traffic lol. http://www.amazon.com/Basic-History-United-States-Set/dp/B001TI7T9M/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319258142&sr=8-1-spell A Basic History of the United States (5 volumes) by Clarence B. Carson http://www.amazon.com/Conceived-Liberty-Set-Murray-Rothbard/dp/0945466269 Conceived in Liberty (4 Volumes) by Murray Rothbard http://www.amazon.com/History-American-People-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060930349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319258491&sr=1-1 A History of the American People by Paul Johnson http://www.amazon.com/Great-Republic-History-America/dp/037550320X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1319258538&sr=1-2 The Great Republic: A History of America by Winston Churchill http://www.amazon.com/Theological-Interpretation-American-History/dp/1599252236/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1319258607&sr=1-1 A Theological Interpretation of American History by C. Gregg Singer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) I have no personal vote on any of these, but I can recommend Hakim's A History of US. http://www.amazon.com/History-US-11--Set/dp/0195327276/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319260669&sr=1-1 I majored in Ancient History, so I've read my fair share of history texts over the years...... Hakims style and voice is very easy to enjoy...and you manage to retain the material and discover a great deal of detail which is often left out of most other books about US History. Instead of a textbook, you are reading a story....it goes by so fast you don't realize you've just read 10 volumes. If I had to choose one of the books you linked I would have to go with The Great Republic: A History of America by Winston Churchill, if only because it is "culled" from Winston Churchill's Nobel Prize for Literature-winning A History of the English Speaking Peoples (A much larger work)...and a justifiably great book in its own right. However many people love the idea of reading Churchill, until they actually read him....His writing is very dry....and tends to get a bit long winded and one-sided (he dwells on the positive and doesn't acknowledge the negative in the progress of our country)... So that's my vote, none of the above....go with Hakim (I personally love her science books as well) The one benefit of Hakim's books is they can be used for Middle/High School students so you could get 2/1 value...:001_smile: Edited October 22, 2011 by Xanadu added link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I haven't read the others, but I liked Hakim's series also. I didn't always agree with her point of view- for instance I didn't like the conclusions she came to on the Salem Witch Trials- which I had read up on years ago...but she still presents everything in a very engaging way and even a difference of opinion can be great for starting conversations and more research. I figured engaging with lots of photos, maps, interesting rabbit trails was far better than a dry textbook. I've used the series for my 2 high school girls and plan to use them later with my next 3 students. sorry to take off in another direction, hopefully someone else can comment on the books you asked about :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I have no personal vote on any of these, but I can recommend Hakim's A History of US. http://www.amazon.com/History-US-11--Set/dp/0195327276/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319260669&sr=1-1 I majored in Ancient History, so I've read my fair share of history texts over the years...... Hakims style and voice is very easy to enjoy...and you manage to retain the material and discover a great deal of detail which is often left out of most other books about US History. Instead of a textbook, you are reading a story....it goes by so fast you don't realize you've just read 10 volumes. If I had to choose one of the books you linked I would have to go with The Great Republic: A History of America by Winston Churchill, if only because it is "culled" from Winston Churchill's Nobel Prize for Literature-winning A History of the English Speaking Peoples (A much larger work)...and a justifiably great book in its own right. However many people love the idea of reading Churchill, until they actually read him....His writing is very dry....and tends to get a bit long winded and one-sided (he dwells on the positive and doesn't acknowledge the negative in the progress of our country)... So that's my vote, none of the above....go with Hakim (I personally love her science books as well) The one benefit of Hakim's books is they can be used for Middle/High School students so you could get 2/1 value...:001_smile: :iagree: We loved these books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I've read Johnson and enjoyed it. It was a while back, so I don't really remember details. He is pretty conservative, so you might want to read a more liberal perspective too, like Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I've been meaning to read Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples. It's a project, but I think it would flow better than reading the American extracts in isolation. If you have a commute, I'd highly recommend Teaching Company classes. I've listened to their long US history course and some shorter courses. If you'd like to focus on a conservative view of history, try Patrick Allitt's courses. If you're lucky, your library will have them or can ILL them for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatA Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I've found that volume works are among the driest. If I see it's a volume, I instantly cringe. Not saying it's bad, just bad memories (history major). Next year I plan on reading a list of US history books because my US history knowledge is pretty weak (I mainly took Euro and Latin Hist. courses in college). But each book on the list is written about a specific time period and not an encompassing period of time. So by the end of the year I'll have read from the colonies to the Iraq war. That's just my 2 cents... it seems like it's a little easier for me to get through a dry work when it's only 1 book and not 7. To answer your question specifically, I've never read any of those books. :tongue_smilie:I just wanted to share my US history journey as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I've found that volume works are among the driest. If I see it's a volume, I instantly cringe. Not saying it's bad, just bad memories (history major). Next year I plan on reading a list of US history books because my US history knowledge is pretty weak (I mainly took Euro and Latin Hist. courses in college). But each book on the list is written about a specific time period and not an encompassing period of time. So by the end of the year I'll have read from the colonies to the Iraq war. That's just my 2 cents... it seems like it's a little easier for me to get through a dry work when it's only 1 book and not 7. To answer your question specifically, I've never read any of those books. :tongue_smilie:I just wanted to share my US history journey as well! Would you mind posting your list? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We have the first four you listed- dh has read all of them, and the rest of us have used them primarily as references when we needed to read about something in particular. For that use, they're really good. But they're way too dry for me to be able to sit down and just read them through. I actually prefer to read whole books on a subject rather than sets like these. If you want a concise set of books on American history, perhaps Bennett's series is for you. America: The Last Best Hope is interesting enough that my kids really enjoyed it, but written at a higher level than the Hakim books. And for about $20, you can get web access to all kinds of additional materials to round out the book content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Sonlight Years D and E cover American History in book form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Sonlight Years D and E cover American History in book form. I was thinking of mentioning that I've been enjoying The Landmark History of the American People from that core. There are times when I think it could go much further into particular topics, but it's a nice starting point and, like I said, enjoyable. I've been reading it allowed to my oldest ds, and my husband loves when he gets to listen in because he likes the book too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 When I read for myself to go along with what the kids are doing, I tend to just read popular nonfiction books and biographies. It's not like history is like math where you need to have a firm grounding in absolutely all the ins and outs in order to teach it. You need to have a basic grounding in the big stuff, but after that, there's so many different takes and specialties that you can't really learn it all anyway. I figure it's really for my own enrichment and I'd much rather sit down with some David McCullough or Doris Kearns Goodwin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I have read the books by Johnson and Churchill. Churchill is quite dry. The Paul Johnson book is recommended by SWB in TWTM for high school. The Hakim books have a slightly left leaning POV (I use them for middle school American history), and the Zinn book is way left. If you are a history newbie and you want varied perspectives, then you might consider something like Lies My Teacher Told Me. It has a progressive POV, but maybe it will start to give you an idea where progressives are coming from. Have you read The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers? If you are looking to educate yourself about American history, then I would start there. There are lots of great books on specific topics from A Voyage Long and Strange to The Bear Went Over the Mountain. if you are interested in books like that, then we could start a list of topical books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatA Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Would you mind posting your list? :) It's out of chronological order because I have it by the books the library has and the books I have. One of them is three volumes, I think Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative." 1. Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History Nick Bunker 2. American Colonies: The Settling of North America Alan Taylor 3. 1776 David McCullough 4. The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon S. Wood 5. The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War Fred Anderson 6. A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America Jon Kukla 7. The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies Alan Taylor 8. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Doris Kearns Goodwin 9. The Spanish War: An American Epic 1898 G. J. A. O'Toole 10. The Civil War: A Narrative Shelby Foote 11. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 Daniel Walker Howe 12. So Far from God: The U.S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848 John S. D. Eisenhower 13. Landscape Turned Red Stephen Sears 14. Battle Cry of Freedom James McPherson 15. Grant Jean Edward Smith 16. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl Timothy Egan 17. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II Doris Kearns Goodwin 18. Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific Eric Hammel 19. A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 G. J. Meyer 20. The Guns of August Barbara W. Tuchman and Robert K. Massie 21. Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps Mary Matsuda Gruenewald 22. Theodore Rex Edmund Morris 23. The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933-1940 Anthony J. Badger 24. With Courage and Cloth: Winning the Fight for a Woman's Right to Vote Ann Bausum 25. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 William Raymond Manchester: 26. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis Robert F. Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. 27. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts Andrew Chaikin and Tom Hanks 28. Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson Robert A. Caro 29. Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story–The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company Patrick K. O'Donnell 30. The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America 1932-72 William Raymond Manchester 31. The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy David E. Hoffman 32. From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality Michael J. Klarman 33. Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 David Browne 34. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Lawrence Wright 35. The Forever War Dexter Filkins 1. Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation David A. Price 2. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation Joseph J. Ellis 3. John Adams David G. McCullough 4. The Journals of Lewis and Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition) Meriwether Lewis, William Clark 5. Blood and Thunder: An Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West Hampton Sides 6. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation John Ehle 7. Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors Stephen Ambrose 8. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West Dee Brown 9. The Great Depression: America in the 1930s T. H. Watkins 10. Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Stephen Ambrose 11. Hiroshima John Hersey 12. Day of Infamy: The Classic Account of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor Walter Lord 13. The Fifties David Halberstam 14. A Rumor of War Philip Caputo 15. Vietnam: A History Stanley Karnow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 It's out of chronological order ... Thanks! Can't wait to look these up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Thanks everyone! I will also look into the others mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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