A History of Us: War, Peace, and All That Jazz: 1918-1945a History of Us Book Nine

We are using this book alongside of the Tapestry of Grace curriculum. It is an excellent source for chronological history. Joy Hakim presents the information in a manner that is easily understood for my girls in lower grades as well as detailed enough for my high school age daughter. I highly recommend her entire series.

Bravo, Joy Hakim! History was never really enjoyable for me-not boring, just not really captivating. This book, number 9 in A History of US, is my favorite so far. The others were really well done, and I enjoyed them, too. She really writes it more like our countries big story. The famous men and women are introduced more as characters than as names. From the "Lets just have a good time" 20's after World War I, through racial bigotry, the Depression, the attack on Pearl Harbor to the end of World War II, she explains everything in detail. Hakim throws in funny and interesting facts, pictures (the second edition is in full color) paragraphs out of books, autobiographies and letters, making you feel that you understand almost everything you can. I think this, the 1918-1945 period in history has been the most interesting for me. So much was going on! It seems like she packed a lot into one book, but even her summarizing jobs are amazing. I really admire her truthfulness, and the hope she always seems to have that things will get better in the future, and that we'll try not to repeat old mistakes. She acclaims people who helped change the nation for better, and doesn't justify or smooth over the bad. Even while she's telling about all the evil of Hitler's government, she is letting you know that America's government made some pretty bad mistakes too, like not accepting the 2,000 refugee children from Germany that Hitler was willing to send over. One thing I like most about her books, and especially this one, is she never makes an excuse for the hate groups, rioters, and even famous people that she admires. She pulls out the faults, and explains carefully why they did the things they did . Hakim does it in a way that makes you understand, if not accept, their acts. There are still things I don't (and don't think I ever will) understand in history, but Hakim really helps me grasp them better. Kids will really enjoy these books a lot more than the huge history textbooks. Hakim put some really hard issues and photos in her books, but after all, they are history. Five stars definitely!

American kids have a hard enough time caring about the post-Vietnam era. For an author to make the years from 1918 to 1945 come alive, and particularly the Great Depression, is a feat indeed. Hakiim has accomplished it with this book. The criticisms about its sympathies to Communism are well-taken, but a good middle or high school teacher can remedy that in short order, or simply assign selected chapters instead of having kids read all the way through from start to finish. I have had students tell me that they are reading this volume for enjoyment, which is also a remarkable feat.

I loved this book and all of Joy Hakim's books. She makes history interesting, not just interesting, but FASINATING! I would recomend this book to anyone.