A Novel Approach to Politics; Introducing Political Science Through Books, Movies, and Popular Culture

I read this book to prepare for a state assessment in political science. Unlike other PS101 textbooks, this one makes a ton of sense and is easy to read. The analogies, pictures, commentary and real-world example really provide a way for the various concepts and terminology to become understandable. I would recommend this book to any professor teaching a bunch of freshmen students with zero understanding in the realm of politics. It would also be good for high school teachers...

Although I have only had this book for about two weeks, it seems interesting. I'll be curious to see how it integrates popular culture with politics.

I adopted this book for my intro to political science course after several trials of other introductory texts. The problem with "textbooks" in general is they tend to be rather dry, hard to follow and fail to capture the spirit of the material (a.k.a. boring). Introductory texts are even more of a challenge as they lump a large body of knowledge into a condensed version. Ultimately, as a professor, even I have a hard time digesting the material in most textbooks. The Van Belle and Mash text is the exception to the rule. The book is entertaining and easy to read. While the authors do stretch at times to make a joke (sometimes at the cost of actually learning something), they provide a refreshing and very accessible look at political science. It is a text students will actually read (one can hope) and enjoy.