A Short History of the United States

by Edward Channing

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

1856-1931

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short history, written in 1900, was a nice, short trip through American history. While not the intent of the book, I was hoping to gain more insight into the 1900 view on US history. It turns out it's pretty much the same as the 2000 view of US history, with less emphasis on women and minorities. I listened to the Libravox version that was read by a women with a great Georgian accent, though she did have a hard time pronouncing several rivers and mountains.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a well written book, by any means, but if you want an abridged version of US history, i recommend it. There are several events covered in the book that were ,certainly, never discussed in history class

[Mark Nenadov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not remarkable, just presents a traditional understanding of American history up to 1900 without making the information interesting or any serious attempt at unique analysis.

[Jerry villacres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and necessary reading

Overall, a very informative book. One that should be required reading and a prerequisite to having the right to vote.
The format of the book is mostly as a school text and it does not make it for a good and continues reading. In addition the writing was done a long time ago which make it, at times, hard to read.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't fit the intended audience for this book. I am 60 years old and have become very interested in history as a way of understanding the world we live in now. Sadly I don't remember much of the US history I learned in grammar school.

I liked this book because of its brevity. It is mainly facts and chronology with not too much interpretation by the author. It gave me a good outline for where I want to read further. Ironically the brevity without too much context also made it somewhat boring during the long sequence of Civil War battles.

I am glad I read it, especially because it was free from Amazon for Prime members.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a strange little book. It is literally a paragraph or less of each happening in the United States from the first European explorers until 1900. Each paragraph begins with sources for further reading. The summary helped explain a few details I was previously "fuzzy" about. I highlighted a few selections to review for a personal genealogy project. I'll probably look at it again to see what other sources it recommends for some areas of interest.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: Actually, the edition I used is published by Librivox. But I cannot find it in Goodreads database, and can no longer add it, due to the recent change of Goodreads member interface. It would be a headache and a potentially long waiting period to ask for this edition to be added.

[Rory G. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an OK summary of US history. Nothing spectacular, some propaganda (calling the US Constitution ‘the greatest document ever written,’
Etc.). Nothing you wouldn’t expect from a 1900 text. Had a few fun anecdotes.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to this one through Audiobooks. Some of the books are free, in the public domain, like this one. Some have multiple readers, this had just one, but was pretty bad. I actually kept listening to see how many more words she would mangle. Plus this was a history book written in early 1900s, and the author said he was trying to give an unbiased and straightforward account of our history. But there was so much editorializing, it was laughable. Most of the focus was on the wars. Is that truly all history is?

[Andrew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent text on the important people and events in the formation and development of the US from discovery to 1900. It is interesting reading a history text written in 1920's as the perspective is different. For instance in this text there is no mention of the Indian wars and the way Native Americans were treated in the 19th century.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bunch of facts set up chronologically up through the Spanish War up till about 1900. A goods thing to review from time to time; this is a traditional read like a school textbook - heavy pro-American, settler, government bias. So not as interesting to deliberate unfortunately.

[Joe Stufflebeam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty short and to the point. Not a bad intro for someone wanting this level of history for our first 125 years. I was curious to see the history as it was written in 1900 versus what is popularly talked about and written today.

[Sarah]

The librivox recording of this book is well done with a delightful Georgia(USA) accent

[Ed Lavalette]

Nice quick over view of the US up till 1900.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

History from perspective of early 20th century, written for school children.

[Kate]

Fizzled out. Stopped reading