U.S. History for Dummies

图书介绍

Lots of people think that learning U.S. history is a punishment. It's a subject you had to take in school. You memorized a bewildering array of dates, absorbed definitions for terms like Manifest Destiny, and wondered if America really needed two presidents named Harrison. Historical figures were presented to you as if they were characters in a junior high school costume pageant, with their blemishes airbrushed out and personalities drained away in stodgy history textbooks.
History textbooks often overlook the fascinating moments of history. They present U.S. history as something dry and distant, all events and facts, and don't focus on what is really is: The story of Americans. It's the story of people – what they thought, did, and tried to do as they struggled to build a nation.
U.S. History For Dummies is not a textbook. It focuses on people – famous, infamous, and obscure. This book gives you a basic foundation of information about the history of the United States. Students and teachers can use it as a friendly, easy-to-understand overview of U.S history, and history buffs can use it as a reference to look up important facts, to settle debates, and to store up ammunition for future conversations with a know-it-all brother-in law!
Here's just a sampling of the topics covered in U.S. History For Dummies:
Pre-Columbus: The earliest Native Americans The settling of the Pilgrims and the expansion toward the West The American Revolution and the establishment of a new government How the most influential presidents governed the nation The Civil War and the abolishment of slavery The development of modern industry Two World Wars and a Great Depression America matures through tragedy: The Kennedy Assassination, the Vietnam War, and Watergate U.S. History For Dummies also includes Top Ten lists covering the best – and worst – presidents, inventions that changed the world, and events that defined American culture. Summary: Sloppy editing and researchRating: 2Moving to America with very little memory of what I'd learned in school - and that from a European perspective anyway - I thought this book would be a good way to get up to speed on American history. There is a lot of information packed in to the book, with lots of little anecdotes and asides, which are interesting and often fun. However, some of the grammar is sloppy or ill-expressed giving some sentences ambivalent meanings(this is not a question of American grammar v English). A decent editor should have told him the difference between me and I, who and whom. However, this is just irritating - what is really poor is that the author does not know that England is not synonymous with Britain. He talks of "the British goverment" before Britain was created, he illustrates a point with a map which he says shows British land, then labels it English. It is the equivalent of using Texas and USA interchangeably. He even talks of the London parliament; no such thing exists. If he is so palpably wrong on the one thing I am very sure of, I am unsure whether to trust anything else he says. Summary: Indians?Rating: 4This was a nice review of American history but one distraction was present throughout: Calling Native Americans "Indians." Just seems that in this time of political correctness, the author might have corrected that, especially since he uses the term African-American. Summary: What about Influenza 1918?Rating: 2While this capsule of U.S. history makes for entertaining and at times informative reading, I was very disappointed that no mention was made of the devastation reeked by the 'Spanish Lady' and its effect on the outcome of WWI. The only indirect reference I was able to find was 'American losses (from World War I) - 48,000 killed in battle, 56,000 lost to disease' makes no mention of the disease or the effect of disease on the general U.S. population. The Spanish or 'swine' flu killed 500,000 people in the U.S. in less than two years (and over 50 million world-wide). This blatant omission makes me wonder what other momentous historical events were left out of this book? Perhaps no history book exists that objectively touches on all major historical events. The only antidote would be to read extensively and critically (when studying the history of a war one can only form a less biased opinion by reading the propaganda of both sides). Thus this book is not an authoritative overview of U.S. history but just a tongue-tickling appetizer. Five stars for being an easy and entertaining read, minus three stars for leaving out critical historical events. Summary: U.S. History for DummiesRating: 5Good Book. I is very detailed with the necessary fact about US history that I require. Thanks Summary: Bit Slanted Toward Popular/PC HistoryRating: 4My only complaint is what's in the title of my review. The history here is not groundbreaking but it is more than just the standard basics. Someone with a background lacking in historical knowledge can benefit from this book, and anyone who enjoys reading about history will be at home here. Nice brush-up for those who feel they'd like to update what they know in this subject. Compacts its information well into its space and breaks it down into chapters and sub-headings so certain eras can be focused on as needed. All but the most keenly educated historian can learn something from US History For Dummies.




RapidShare:
http://rapidshare.com/files/176225810/USHisDum.rar

Tx much crickey for the RS mirror.

Thanks crickey for the RS link.