A Great Comprehensive Historical Account of American Society.
932246
This book wonderfully illustrates the step-by-step evolution of American cities and suburbs to arrive at where we are now.  The author gives considerable thought to cause and effect, and incorporates race, age, historical events, and technological advances in his explanation of urban/suburban history.  Part of the enjoyment of reading this book is the concise, organized, colorful account of our society's history.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history, or wondering how our cities changed over the past 150+ years.
4951269
This text is a good one for both individual study or classroom use. The authors have presented many topics of interest, using facts, figures, and tracing different cultural traditions and American lifestyle choices through their changes up to the present day.
4798479
Very well written account of the life and times of late Victorian America and some of its greatest people, along with the most heinous of them.
2271966
This is a book everyone interested in American politics should have. It covers a broad range of subjects (Federalism, the media, interest groups, etc.). The book is especially good for those interested in having basic knowledge these themes. A comprehensive bibliography at the end of each chapter is for those who want to go further. Contains nice tables and illustrations as well.
4791305
America 3.0 presents a thoughtful, reasoned and positive approach to both the problems that we face as a society today in America as well as the strengths that we can leverage as a nation to overcome our current obstacles.

The authors begin their analysis by looking back into the founding of the nation, prior to the revolution, and the values that the settlers brought with them.  I found their summary work on England and its freedoms that had survived the hand of Roman Law to be very interesting and original (to me, at least, not being an expert on this genre of history).

America 1.0 moved from a land of free farmers and shop holders (with the unfortunate stain of slavery in the South) to America 2.0, characterized by increasing urbanization and shaped by WW1 and WW2 as well as the Great Depression, with its corresponding expansion of Federal power.

In the section of America 3.0, they attempt to present a non-dogmatic, positive view of how the nation can move forward past our large debts, dysfunctional political environment, and stagnant institutions to leverage the strengths of our people and unleash the power of local dynamism and local government responsibility rather than large scale Federalism and unaccountable mandarins.

In any book that attempts to cover such a wide variety of topics, from the history of freedom in England (and how it differed from its neighbors on mainland Europe, and why) to a forward looking view of our institutions can cope with an impending fiscal burden, there are areas where the author rightly has to minimize focus (or leave to other experts) in order to continue to present the broad outlines of their case.  It is this "overarching" view that makes the book so valuable, especially since it is a relatively easy read, with notes in the back to support their key points.  It is also this "meta" viewpoint that will open the book up to attack from commenters or readers with "single issue" views who see all items through the prism of a single, narrow viewpoint.

However, I would ignore the detractors and read the book for what it is, an attempt to see the roots of our success so that we can harness these strengths to look forward and reform our institutions to make sure that the USA is as successful in the 21st century as we were in the 20th.
3871814
This book is a great economic history.  It was very enjoyable read and clearly and effectively made the case for why America became great.  It is not a dry economic text and is good source of information for someone interested in capitalism.
933918
If your are an academic or just a socially aware citizen, this book has something for you. Each chapter has a well written synopsis that provides the average reader with all of the information necessary to understand the political and economic conditions as they impacted the poor for specific time periods in American history. The solutions that are implemented and the results are also included, along with edititorials and similar papers from the time period being discussed. The summaries are easy to follow and the background information provides much more insight into areas the reader might wish to delve deeper into. The result is combination book, which should be of interest to the socially conscious and the academic. I definately left with a better understanding of just how complex the issue of poverty is.
4524575
This is a great book and gives an account of our country's history that most of us would never know otherwise.
2681972
The third of these three books about the colonial, the national, and the democratic experience describe the development of the United States, not from a political or war-oriented view, but how individuals lived and what they did to survive and improve their lives in this new world; later the expansion to the west and the rise in the standard of living to include basics such as electricity, postal delivery, mail order catalogs, etc.  My personal book shelf has limited space but there will always be room for these three books which I have read more than once and expect to read again.  I strongly urge you to read all three of them in chronological order for a complete history of America.
375531
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The first-hand accounts and letters gave me a much better understanding of the man, the era, and the events. I am sure some of the accounts were more generous than factual, but there is no denying Lincoln was a remarkable man on many levels. I was surprised at how affected I was as events approached the well-known conclusion. It also shows that politics and Washington DC have never been as good as we would like them to be.
4416357
This IS a great read of various essays about American History by one of the BEST Historians dealing with American History !!!!  I HIGHLY recommend this read.
305494
I've read books on the series and this one impresses me as being more about the era than about what is portrayed in the TV show.

The US has never had a class of people like the British aristocracy and therefore never a body of servants like you will read about in this book. The closest the Gilded Age Americans came to this life was when their daughters married titled British heirs (1870-1920) who wanted their dowries to finance the collapsing estates.

The book provides an enormous amount of details about the differences between those servants who worked "upstairs" and those who worked "downstairs". Individuals that had to be on both levels usually had to change their attire before working on the other level. The personal lives, activities, and duties of all the household staff on a country estate are detailed.

Britain was undergoing a societal overhaul during the early 20th century. This was being pushed by new technology and social reformers. Their impacts on the households is described. I thoroughly enjoyed this look at a bygone era.
399915
This is probably the best book on any period of American history I've ever read. It's engrossing, illuminating, meticulously researched, and the writing is phenomenal. I can't recommend it highly enough.
330428
This is a really fine book.  Its analysis of individual freedom and its effect on socieities is wide ranging, unique, thought provoking.  It provides a viewpoint of history across a wide  range of societies and a large span of time that I have not found elsewhere.  I highly recommend it as a book to widen your horizons and understanding of the human/societal dynamic.
4377441
Wonderful personal account from one of the most significant periods in our nation's history.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
4081107
This book is not for the casual reader or faint at heart.  Nevertheless, it is an exhaustive and detailed account of how the U.S. Constitution came to be, starting with the failed Confederation and through the ratification process.  No stone is left unturned in terms of the debates throughout this entire period.  The greatest fault of the book is that, in the author's desire to be thorough, the excerpts from the debates are overly repetitive.  However, if one wants an authoritative history of the Constitution's formation, this is it. After reading this book, one understands, more than has been generally understood before, how many, if not most, of the provisions of the Constitution were the result of compromise that often ended ambiguously in exhaustion after interminable debate.  It unintentionally make a mockery of "original intent."  With a few exceptions, such as where the trade-off was clear, as in two Senate seats for each state, the end result was reached primarily to avoid a breakdown and to move on to the next subject, leaving implementation and  interpretation for future generations.
3756751
It's a witty, comprehensive commentary on the diverging customs and traditions of daily life in America viewed through the eyes of a traditonalist from post-war England. Certainly worth reading to round out one's historic perspective.