United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination

by John M. Schmalbach, John J. Newman

Covers the process of preparing for the Advanced Placement U.S. history exam, from deciding on a strategy and evaluating strengths and weaknesses through practice exams and reviewing the subject area.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Textbooks, School, Reference, High School, Read For School

768 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[RyanM · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are currently taking or plan on taking the AP United States History course, this book will be your guide to victory. I have often referred to this textbook in jest as the 'APUSH Bible', but that is just barely an exaggeration. With concise, chronologically ordered chapters that take you from the days of Columbus to the current presidency (depending on what edition you read), this book gives you the complete rundown of all topics that will be on the AP US History Exam. Take it from me; I took the exam last month, and there was not a single question on that test whose material was not discussed within this book. Let it be known that you will get out of this book whatever you put into it. If you study every chapter and read each page with vigor, you will without a doubt score highly. Even if you use this as a supplementary textbook for another book, or as a last minute study tool, you will still reap benefits from it. Personally, this was my main textbook that I used throughout the entire course of APUSH. However, if your APUSH teacher is utilizing another book, I urge you to go out of your way to acquire and use this. It can assist you on homework, studying, and of course, preparing for exam day. If you do not wish to purchase the book, I believe there are free online pdfs that you could read on a phone, computer, or other device. So please, do yourself a favor, and give this book a chance. You can thank me after you get a 5.

[Stetson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the text used by my APUSH class. Apparently, it was a great preparatory resources as I easily aced the APUSH test. Definitely one of the easiest 5s to score on an AP test in my view. I imagine the curriculum has drifted substantially leftward since when I was in school though even then the prevalence of question on women's and minority historical topics dominated over more general political, economic, cultural, or theoretical questions.

It is also a travesty APUSH students are more likely to be handed Lies My Teacher Told Me instead of Albion's Seed.

[Darrell Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an AP and Honors US History teacher, I naturally review as much AP exam prep material that I can reasonably obtain. Thankfully, a lot of the outrageous liberal bias from the earlier editions has been removed. Newman et al still couldn't help themselves in letting an insidious creep of liberalism color their descriptions of events after Reconstruction. They began to use loaded words in describing actions inconvenient to the history of their preferred political parties. For instance, instead of describing the racists antics of the Democrats during and after Reconstruction, they instead referred to such Democrats as Conservatives (they would do this over and over again), knowing that would tie the concept of modern-day Conservatives to racist events of the past. It is dishonest and disingenuous for them to sink to such low standards. Further, the final chapter blackwashes the Bush Administration and whitewashes the Obama Administration, using partisan language to either denigrate President Bush and the Republicans in Congress or defend President Obama and the Democrats. This book does, quite surprisingly, use the term "Islamic terrorism", but also uses, not surprisingly, the term "undocumented immigrant". The heaviest left-wing political bias of this book occurs in the final two chapters, so Caveat Emptor...

Overall, there is good refresher material here and the study questions are relevant to the AP exam. There is still, however, much more work to do in politically balancing this textbook. The quality of this textbook would be greatly improved by doing away with its left wing bias and providing a balanced "middle of the road" approach to the intricacies of American history and its politics. Really, is that so hard to do, Mr. Newman?

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book, the 2nd amendment states, “the people of the United States have the right to keep and bear arms in a state of militia.” The original wording of the 2nd amendment states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Of course, these are two different statements.
This makes this book, and any other book written by this author, suspect when it comes to being factual.

[shiv! · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book isn’t that bad, it is actually quite interesting for a history buff, but the class caused me a lot of suffering that is the problem here

[Geetha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best review book you could possibly have for AP US. It is detailed, but not to the point where the material gets dry. The authors clearly want you to only get the facts out of the book. It covers everything that would be seen on the AP exam. They have potential FRQs and a DBQ after each chapter, but I never used them. There is also MC and a practice test (I had to use my teacher's answer key since there was never an answer key in the book).
I read the book twice before the AP exam. Reading it once gave me a good understanding of US history and reading it the second time made me tie up a bit of loose ends. I understand the book is long (it took me a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of 8 hour reading periods to finish the book since each chapter took about 30-40 minutes to understand and remember) But reading one chapter a day before the exam (in which you would have to start a month before the exam) would set you at a good pace. But if you want to read it multiple times, you will find that the second time you will read much faster (I read each chapter in about 20 minutes). I think reading it more than three times would be overkill, but if you're up for it, then totally go for it.
This book was the reason I got a 5 on the AP exam. I don't know about other review books, but don't let this book pass your hands.


*Lastly, I would recommend REA's crash course in US History the day before the exam so you have a quick look at everything.

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very biased book also STOP USING AMERICAN INDIANS for Native Americans. Indians is the term that the colonizers gave the Native people living in America because they thought that they had reached India, they were bad sailors they got lost basically. Also used some language that can be deemed inappropriate and politically incorrect for the time it was published in. As a history book, it should have really focused on being politically correct and not biased.

[SophieAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I had to read this book for APUSH, but I think it counts for all the hard work. Wish me luck on my exam.

[Joshua Camp · Rating 1 out of 5]

This being published is an atrocity. Easy to read, but the authors took the liberty of rewriting much of our history, including the Bill of Rights, in a blatant attempt to devalue what those rights actually mean. No one that cares about history should bother reading this. Will it help you pass a test? Maybe. Let's hope it also makes you question the agenda working against your freedoms.

[mishti · Rating 5 out of 5]

love of my life

[Carolina Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, so good!!!!!! Must read!!!

[Emily Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love the way this book was written, but it was helpful with APush!

[Tony Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great "brief" on American government politics, policies & economics, w/ some cultural insights, too. Plenty of analysis from conservative & progressive sides, perhaps too much to a few debunked theories. Nonetheless, a great short course on American history.
Having read so much recently on racism, I began reading, expecting to find a whitewash, like public schools taught us. The good news is, the book gives much more attention to the subject that it would have a decade ago. The bad news is, systemic racism is apparent in every aspect & every period of American life.

[Obesehomingpigeon · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a sad day...

Dear History Book,

I thought I would have another year of suffering with you, but alas, it was not to be. I will be rid of your extremely left-wing biased summaries of history because the college board decided to change everything.

Good Riddance,

Obesehomingpigeon




P.S. I would burn you but your getting passed down to sophomores, so by felicia!

[Abby]

I’m gonna fail the APUSH exam

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I used this book to study for my APUSH exam, and I tend to rate my reads based on my enjoyment of them, and so this got a 2 because I just didn't enjoy reading it that much. Did it help me? Probably, but I haven't gotten my score back so I don't know. What I liked about it was that it was content based and focused on content review, which is what I like. I feel like a lot of test prep books want you to just do practice questions and while that is probably an effective way to study, I most enjoy having thorough content review when I study. This study book had that. It also had an okay review of the test structure. The reason I gave this a 2 and not a 3 or even a 4 was because I didn't like the structure or style of this guide as much as I liked the guide that I used last year to study for AP World History. Obviously this is a different course, but I used the Crash Course book last year and liked that experience a lot more. There is a Crash Course book for this course, I just used this one because it was the one my teacher had. That said, this book still had good content review and did a good job of reviewing material, I just didn't think it was as good as the brand that I have used for other courses.

[Arianna]

This was my main review book for the AP US History test and I got a 5! Unlike other review books, this book is actually engaging; though it incorporates more information than is perhaps needed, it gives you a good idea of the eras you are studying rather than just listing facts. The multiple choice and essay questions at the end of each chapter are also wonderful. I went through the multiple choice questions as I finished each chapter to solidify my knowledge (using an answer key I found online, as the book unfortunately doesn't have its own) and then went through all of the essay questions closer to the exam. The only flaw I can find is that the practice test isn't the best. I wanted to do a lot more practice tests: McGraw Hill and Princeton were good in that respect. Overall, this is probably the best review book for this exam.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those studying for the AP exam, this can be a great fit when accompanied by a good teacher and lots of MC question practice. I truly think that approach to preparation weighs better than the other AP books that load you with detail. But with a book that tries to simplify the information as much as possible, it left out background information that made understanding a bit more difficult.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the book at 12 last night! I'll admit I did skim some parts, but I pretty much read through it all. I took the test this morning and I feel pretty confident about it and I think the book did help me a lot.

- Rating TBA in July

Update: I got my score back. I got a 4, so I'm rating this a 4.

[Nia Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Review in preparation for the AP national exam. I advise those who decide to get the book to start reading it well in advance because it helps break down subjects in textbooks for tests throughout the year in AP US History as well as a brief, but detailed review for the exam.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful in reviewing for the apush test. I made a timeline for the class from 1620 to 2000 (I'm almost done, I promise!) (also: it's not a project, I did it to help me study) and it was super helpful in providing information in an easy to understand manner.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank god

[Chloe]

My AP United States History teacher loaned this book to me prior to the test and boy did it help. It was detailed, yet concise. The only thing that bothered me was that there's no answer key.

[Nicole Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

so helpful in apush.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great US History book for students or history lovers. The presentation of the history is clear cut and easily understandable.

[Ninoshkka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still think I flunked that exam though

[Kirstyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really need a hardcover version of this book..

[Felicia London · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me get a 5! Its very detailed and should be used as a supplement throughout the year!

[Tarnparit · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is a history textbook, what do you expect?

[Olivia Kvadus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a 5 on the exam so maybe this did something?