The Almanac of American History

While this book isn't perfect in terms of contribution to US history from non-white ethnic groups, it comes pretty close. It's very informative, well researched, fairly balanced, and the format is organized by date chronologically with comprehensive coverage in a compact volume. It covers history from the Vikings landing to the 2004 presidency on issues from major artistic and scientific contributions to legal milestones and famous influential people (with real pictures). Along with other books on more specific histories of different ethnic groups of the US, this book will round out your collection and perspective. A good buy!

This is simply an excellent reference work -- but also awonderful general reading work -- filled with the detailand chronology -- and flow of American history. It isdifficult to try to convey what the experience of usingthis work is like. The "history" of the United States ispresented in crisp, clear, but meaningful style andpoint. Each year of the history of the United States(starting with the 1st section of the CHRONOLOGY, citedas 1010-1013, but actually beginning with the date of 986:"Norse navigator Bjorn Herjulfson is blown off coursewhile searching for Eric the Red's coastal Greenlandsettlement, founded in 986." [There is a bit more tothis citation -- the delightful irony, of course, isthe subtle inference that the discovery of "America"has always been a sort of accident, or unintentionalerror...]is filled with the citations of events forthat year arranged in chronological order. Though there are numerous citations, by day-month-year,in the work, concerning not just what is happening inthe English colonies, but also in the surrounding landadjacent to the colonies, the main thrust after 1607,is to concentrate the citations on the events withinthe colonies, and later states. But still, the flowof the work is what is so amazing -- for one sees theevents unfolding before one's mind on a day to daybasis (instead of reading a clipped general sentenceor two in a general American history book). This work is divided into 5 major sections -- eachintroduced by a noted writer. The "Introduction" isby Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the General Editor.Schlesinger beings his "Introduction" in a very provocative fashion: "'In the beginning,' wrote JohnLocke in the _Second Treatise on Civil Government_, 'allthe world was America.' Locke intended only a metaphorfor the state of nature that preceded the establishmentof civil society. But his metaphor evokes much more.It implies a way America was first seen in Europe -- asa new beginning, a break in the long, sad continuitiesof history, a fresh chance for fallen humanity." From there, Schlesinger writes of the major sources ofparadox which he sees in American history. The firstparadox, he says, is that though Americans seem to liveby experiment (William James's "pragmatic tinkering"),they also show a recurrent weakness (Schlesinger's term)for ideology. The second paradox lies in the antagonismbetween the American affirmation of equality and the American tolerance of inequality. The third paradoxis the continuing tension between order and violencein American life. The fourth paradox lies in the questionof conformity versus diversity. And the final paradoxhas to do with the nature of the American experimentitself -- how Americans, themselves, have seen theirvision, or mission, or goal. Schlesinger discusses each of these sources of paradoxin the "Introduction." The 5 sections of the work are:Founding a Nation (986-1787), introduced by Gordon S.Wood -- Testing a Union (1788-1865), introduced byMarcus Cu

This is a great book packed with useful information. It is a useful book for people who study United States history as well as fo those who want to have a history reference book.