Overview

Covering every major event in the country's history, including the causes of the American Revolution, the struggle over slavery that led to the Civil War, the Reconstruction of the country following the war, the rise of big business, the emergence of the United States as a world power, the descent into the Great Depression, the wars of the Twentieth Century, and the outbreak of terrorism in the United States and around the globe. The book also describes how English colonists slowly transformed themselves into the Americans we know today. Most particularly, it seeks to demonstrate how a collection of sovereign, independent states created a workable republican government that subsequently evolved into a democracy, and how society underwent periodic changes in the way individuals looked and behaved. It is a unique, exciting and wonderful story which needs to be better known and appreciated-especially by its own citizens.

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9780060831448

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Reviews

Provides everything a casual (or bewildered) reader needs to know about the United States from the first English colonists until the beginning of 2008. . . . An objective narrative of this nation's history that readers of all political stripes will appreciate. -- Publishers Weekly

A masterful recounting of the Amercian experience from the discovery of the New World to the present. . . . It is a perfect history for our times. --Robert Dallek, author of Nixon and Kissinger One of our great historians has now given us yet another great work. . . . [It] may be brief, but it is wise, eloquent and authoritative. Readers in search of a sprightly tour of the nation's lives and times need look no farther than Remini's latest achievement. --Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House Provides everything a casual (or bewildered) reader needs to know about the United States from the first English colonists until the beginning of 2008. . . . An objective narrative of this nation's history that readers of all political stripes will appreciate. --Publishers Weekly In 2008, Americans face war, terrorism, recession and the rising economies of China and India. Yet the author avers there is still reason to hope for good leadership. Astute assessments of an evolving nation and ideal reading for November voters. --Kirkus Reviews

In 2008, Americans face war, terrorism, recession and the rising economies of China and India. Yet the author avers there is still reason to hope for good leadership. Astute assessments of an evolving nation and ideal reading for November voters. --Kirkus Reviews A masterful recounting of the Amercian experience from the discovery of the New World to the present. . . . It is a perfect history for our times. --Robert Dallek, author of Nixon and Kissinger One of our great historians has now given us yet another great work. . . . [It] may be brief, but it is wise, eloquent and authoritative. Readers in search of a sprightly tour of the nation s lives and times need look no farther than Remini s latest achievement. --Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House Provides everything a casual (or bewildered) reader needs to know about the United States from the first English colonists until the beginning of 2008. . . . An objective narrative of this nation s history that readers of all political stripes will appreciate. --Publishers Weekly In 2008, Americans face war, terrorism, recession and the rising economies of China and India. Yet the author avers there is still reason to hope for good leadership. Astute assessments of an evolving nation and ideal reading for November voters. --Kirkus Reviews One of our great historians has now given us yet another great work. . . . [It] may be brief, but it is wise, eloquent and authoritative. Readers in search of a sprightly tour of the nation's lives and times need look no farther than Remini's latest achievement. --Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House A masterful recounting of the Amercian experience from the discovery of the New World to the present. . . . It is a perfect history for our times. --Robert Dallek, author of Nixon and Kissinger Provides everything a casual (or bewildered) reader needs to know about the United States from the first English colonists until the beginning of 2008. . . . An objective narrative of this nation's history that readers of all political stripes will appreciate. --Publishers Weekly

"""A masterful recounting of the Amercian experience from the discovery of the New World to the present. . . . It is a perfect history for our times."" -- Robert Dallek, author of Nixon and Kissinger ""Robert Remini's A Short History of the United States is a masterful recounting of the Amercian experience from the discovery of the New World to the present. Remini's engaging prose and balanced judgments make this a book for anyone who wants a realistic portrait of America's greatness and limitations. It is a perfect history for our times."" -- Robert Dallek, author of Nixon and Kissinger ""In 2008, Americans face war, terrorism, recession and the rising economies of China and India. Yet the author avers there is still reason to hope for good leadership. Astute assessments of an evolving nation and ideal reading for November voters."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""Provides everything a casual (or bewildered) reader needs to know about the United States from the first English colonists until the beginning of 2008. . . . An objective narrative of this nation's history that readers of all political stripes will appreciate."" -- Publishers Weekly ""One of our great historians has now given us yet another great work. . . . [It] may be brief, but it is wise, eloquent and authoritative. Readers in search of a sprightly tour of the nation's lives and times need look no farther than Remini's latest achievement."" -- Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House ""Although this history is short in terms of pages, it's crammed with content. . . . Through this great mass of material, Mr. Remini holds to a steady narrative course. . . . Mr. Remini makes every word and every sentence in this fact-crammed book count. No wasted words, no passives, no academic throat clearing, no polite beating around the bush."" -- Washington Times"

National Book Award winner Remini (The House, 2006, etc.) boils down U.S. history, illuminating the present.This neat survey begins and ends in uncertainty. Who were the first inhabitants of the New World? Is the United States now on the verge of irreparable decline? As can be expected from a biographer of Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, as well as the official historian of the House of Representatives, Remini serves up American history with a heavy dose of big-name politics. After a patronizing account of the continent's earliest inhabitants ( these natives were limited in what they could do by the fact that they had not invented the wheel ), he zips through the colonial period, the Revolution and the early 19th century. Americans, he explains, only achieved their distinct national identity after the War of 1812. The Jacksonian era then receives generous treatment. Remini remarks that Jackson transformed the executive branch by demonstrating that all it takes is a President with determination, popular support, and leadership skills to direct both domestic and foreign policy and decide the future course of American history. John Quincy Adams had previously warned that the United States must not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. Nevertheless, after the Civil War, America emerged as an industrialized nation unwisely eager to spread freedom and democracy to other parts of the globe. One consequence of its continued involvement in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War was the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. By the end of the 20th century, successive presidents had ignored the constitutional jurisdiction of Congress over declarations of war. Following 9/11, President Bush made one of the most disastrous foreign policy mistakes ever committed by the United States : the invasion of Iraq. In 2008, Americans face war, terrorism, recession and the rising economies of China and India. Yet the author avers there is still reason to hope for good leadership.Astute assessments of an evolving nation and ideal reading for November voters. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Robert V. Remini is professor of history emeritus and research professor of humanities emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and historian of the United States House of Representatives. He is the winner of the National Book Award for the third volume of his study of Andrew Jackson, and he lives in Wilmette, Illinois.

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