American Heritage History of the United States

by Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley takes us on the incredible journey of the United States - a nation formed from a vast countryside on whose fringes a few small colonies made a bold cast at freedom, then burgeoned into an expanding democracy, and ultimately flourished as a world power. From the first primitive maps outlining a New World to the faded daguerreotypes of young men in uniforms standing beside Confederate flags; to pictures of hopeful immigrant families arriving at Ellis Island; to the stirring photographs of civil rights marchers; to the terrible images of the Oklahoma City Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing - the history of America offers a stunning album of people and events.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, American History, The United States Of America, Reference

640 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His most recent books are The Quiet World, The Wilderness Warrior, and The Great Deluge. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was dreading this 600+ page volume on US history, but Brinkley is a good writer, and keeps US history interesting. The illustrations help, showcasing a wide variety of paintings, political cartoons, advertisements, and photographs to help us better understand the history of our country. Recommend for a solid history of the US until the end of the Clinton years.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brinkley appears in this tome to be an apologist for much of what is wrong with the US: rampant capitalism, corporate rights, consumerism, greedy individualism, white exceptionalism, etc.

For instance he summarily dismisses the racism of the film Birth of Nations because the film, he says, brought such innovations as the close up. Seriously?

Women’s suffrage, he tells us, came about because the sex had earned it through their competence and resourcefulness in helping the US through WWI.

This is my first Brinkley history of several I have acquired to listen to via Audible and now I am concerned I have wasted my money.

Maybe the author grew more appreciative of the broader American experience and its shortcomings since publishing this work in 1998. I have to hope so.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of US History. I highly recommend it as it might spur your interesting into really reading about different aspects of our history. It is an incredible story with so many diverse areas to study. Some might actually learn the truth about our history without all the political correctness that is taught today!

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the book is very long (I listened to it on Audible), it is not pedantic or boring. Douglas Brinkley writes well and keeps the readers attention. Of course covering the entire history of the United States is vast, so in writing a 600 page book most topics are covered quickly. It is a springboard to get the whole idea of the history of the United States.

I am going on to read books on specific periods in history or ones about vital people in the history. I'm going to read 1776 by David McCullough first.

[Mark Mears · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Heritage History of the United States

Douglas Brinkley

I have found Mr. Brinkley’s work to be even-handed and informative. This expansive work proves to be of the same caliber.

While there are many segments which fans of American history will read and think “I knew that” these must be documented to lead to the numerous events which will be new.

I would recommend this book for someone who wants an informative brief history of our country without the tint of politics. I listened via audiobook and enjoyed the narrative.

[LGVReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about the author on a western U.S. documentary and decided to check this one out and although an avid history lover and reader of the history genre, this book took me longer to read than average. It takes the high level overview of American history and fly by of each president from Washington to H.W. Bush. The book is true to timeline and when one reads it, will obviously spark the realization of how history really repeats and recycles itself. Yet, do we learn from it?

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights the many people, challenges and events that shaped the USA

The book never gets bogged down in the minutiae that goes with historical reviews. Instead, it keeps charging forward through American history providing an interesting overview of many historical events and characters. A very enjoyable read!

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other than A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES I haven't read many historical works that can be expansive but also incisive. This one would work as a high school text but not really much more. And yes it took me six months to read it. On the kindle app. 1-2% at a time.

[Nancy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an earlier version published in 1988. It was easy to read with relevant illustrations. It gives an interesting overview of US History and reminds me of how many times history tends to repeat itself including today in 2020.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take Brinkly offers a comprehensive, on biased explanation of American history. He does an excellent job and it’s entertaining me. I really enjoyed this and recommended hardly to anybody who has any curiosity about American history. It’s well documented and thoroughly research.

[Pete Iseppi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to make it through this one, reading it during my lunch time now and then. However, it was well worth it. This is a very good, coffee table style book of American History.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo zulu! History without the revisionist slant.

[Bill Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good history, especially up to WW One.

[Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good for a laugh, but nothing else. I stopped reading it because of the inaccuracies and misleading presentation of the past. It is worrying to consider how many people may have read this and the distorted views they now hold of that past.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an easy to read history of the United States. It had no particular political bias that I saw. I felt the two world wars were the strongest sections of the book. The book reads as a story more than a detailed chronicle of history. In short, it is not a chock-full-of dates and details type of history book. It is a good overview with enough details to make the story real.