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A Brief History of America
The next in this series of admirably concise yet nevertheless comprehensive titles looks at the history of all Americans as well as America; its environmental history and its linkage to economic history; the political shaping of America; and America in the world, from being a colony to post-Cold War America.
Black examines the environmental history of America and its linkage to economic history, crucially, the clearing of forests; the spread of agriculture; mineral, coal and iron extraction; industrialisation; urbanisation; and current and growing climate-crisis concerns.
He explores the political shaping of indigenous American polities; free European and unfree African settlements; the creation of an American State, and its successes and failures from 1783 to 1861; Civil War; democratisation; the rise of the federal Government from the 1930s; the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onwards, and tensions in more recent governance.
The book considers America in the as a pre-colonial and colonised space; as a newly-independent power, then a rising international one, the Cold War and the USA as the sole superpower in the post-Cold-War world.
These key themes are tackled chronologically for the sake of clarity, beginning with the geological creation of North America, human settlement and native American cultures to 1500; the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans to 1770 - the Spanish and French in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, the English and French, and the Dutch and Swedes further north.
The focus then shifts to settler conflicts with native Americans and between European powers leading to a British-dominated North America by 1770. Then the end of European rule and the foundation of an American trans-continental state. The section dealing with the years from 1848 to 1880 looks at the Civil War between North and South, reconstruction and the creation of a new society.
Between 1880 and 1920, the United States became an industrial powerhouse and an international power, also a colonial power - the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - and a participant in the First World War.
The interwar years, 1921 to 1945, brought the Roaring Twenties; the growth of Hollywood; Prohibition; jazz; the Great Depression and the New Deal; finally the Second World War.
1945 to 1968 was the American Age, brimming with confidence and success as the world's leading power, but also the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
Subsequent years to 1992 brought crisis and Watergate, the Reagan years and the USA as the sole world superpower.
In bringing the book right up to the present day, Black looks at factors that divide American society and economy, though it remains a country of tremendous energy.
Black examines the environmental history of America and its linkage to economic history, crucially, the clearing of forests; the spread of agriculture; mineral, coal and iron extraction; industrialisation; urbanisation; and current and growing climate-crisis concerns.
He explores the political shaping of indigenous American polities; free European and unfree African settlements; the creation of an American State, and its successes and failures from 1783 to 1861; Civil War; democratisation; the rise of the federal Government from the 1930s; the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onwards, and tensions in more recent governance.
The book considers America in the as a pre-colonial and colonised space; as a newly-independent power, then a rising international one, the Cold War and the USA as the sole superpower in the post-Cold-War world.
These key themes are tackled chronologically for the sake of clarity, beginning with the geological creation of North America, human settlement and native American cultures to 1500; the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans to 1770 - the Spanish and French in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, the English and French, and the Dutch and Swedes further north.
The focus then shifts to settler conflicts with native Americans and between European powers leading to a British-dominated North America by 1770. Then the end of European rule and the foundation of an American trans-continental state. The section dealing with the years from 1848 to 1880 looks at the Civil War between North and South, reconstruction and the creation of a new society.
Between 1880 and 1920, the United States became an industrial powerhouse and an international power, also a colonial power - the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico - and a participant in the First World War.
The interwar years, 1921 to 1945, brought the Roaring Twenties; the growth of Hollywood; Prohibition; jazz; the Great Depression and the New Deal; finally the Second World War.
1945 to 1968 was the American Age, brimming with confidence and success as the world's leading power, but also the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
Subsequent years to 1992 brought crisis and Watergate, the Reagan years and the USA as the sole world superpower.
In bringing the book right up to the present day, Black looks at factors that divide American society and economy, though it remains a country of tremendous energy.
- GenresHistory
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 7, 2024
7 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Black
429 books198 followersJeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 24, 2025
An interesting dive into the history of America and gave me a good start.
Gets very detailed about things you wouldn't want to hear about in a brief history and then not detailed enough where you want it. As someone raised in the UK I need explanations for a lot of things that you just don't get here.
Some the sentences run on quite long and can get tricky to understand.
Gets very detailed about things you wouldn't want to hear about in a brief history and then not detailed enough where you want it. As someone raised in the UK I need explanations for a lot of things that you just don't get here.
Some the sentences run on quite long and can get tricky to understand.
August 3, 2025
Overall has done what it sets out to do, giving a broad strokes history of America from the original native american settlement through to the cold war.
While i enjoyed the topics covered, I found that the went on a number of tangents out of nowhere that didnt really get much of a segue or explaination of how they tied to the current events and left me feeling rather lost.
Unfortunately that ended up being a running trend with this book, the writing style of the author made it rather frustrating to comprehend at times, which is not what you want when trying to teach/inform people about historical periods (or really any learning)
While I'm glad ive read the book and learnt more about early american history leading up to the 20th century, I feel it may be best to try another author
As I noted before however, the book did attempt to cover Native American history alongside european american which helped to paint a greater picture of the continents history both pre and post/during colonisation which added to my interest in the book in spite of its negatives listed above.
While i enjoyed the topics covered, I found that the went on a number of tangents out of nowhere that didnt really get much of a segue or explaination of how they tied to the current events and left me feeling rather lost.
Unfortunately that ended up being a running trend with this book, the writing style of the author made it rather frustrating to comprehend at times, which is not what you want when trying to teach/inform people about historical periods (or really any learning)
While I'm glad ive read the book and learnt more about early american history leading up to the 20th century, I feel it may be best to try another author
As I noted before however, the book did attempt to cover Native American history alongside european american which helped to paint a greater picture of the continents history both pre and post/during colonisation which added to my interest in the book in spite of its negatives listed above.
March 23, 2025
A good overview of American history for a person who is interested in the mainlines during each era. Revealed a lot less black-and-white account of past American politics than was my assumption previously.
I (as a European) found it a good approaching point for American history and did catch multiple themes and eras to which I can return to in more detail with other works.
I (as a European) found it a good approaching point for American history and did catch multiple themes and eras to which I can return to in more detail with other works.
December 18, 2024
An insightful read with more inclusion of the native American plight and long stretching impact of the civil war still present in the South today . It is a reminder that a country not yet 300 years old has emerged so quickly to be the world power .
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews