Remember the Alamo?: American History in Bite-Sized Chunks

by Alison Rattle

For most people the details of the American Revolution, the history of Thanksgiving and the Battle of the Alamo are sketchy at best. However, help is at hand as "Remember the Alamo?" contains all the American history you learnt at school and promptly forgot, and perhaps some things that you were never taught in the first place. Broken down into easily digested bite-sized chunks, this book will teach you the basics of over 150 key events from Columbus to Nixon and from cowboys to cosmonauts. "Remember the Alamo?" assumes no other knowledge of world history and doesn't contain anything but the most salient points so that anyone can become clued up on the history of one of the world's most developed nations. Concise and informative, yet entertaining and engagingly written, "Remember the Alamo?" contains everything you will ever need to know about the United States.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Americana, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alison Rattle grew up in Liverpool, and now lives in a medieval house in Somerset with her three teenage children, her partner - a carpenter - an extremely naughty Jack Russell and a ghost cat. She has co-authored a number of non-fiction titles on subjects as diverse as growing old, mad monarchs, how to boil a flamingo, the history of America and the biography of a nineteenth-century baby killer. She has worked as a fashion designer, a production controller, a painter and decorator, a barmaid, and now owns and runs a vintage tea room.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little book for those who know nothing about American history and would like a decent overview without being overwhelmed. I feel much more informed now!

[Van Nwafor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great high level overview of American history but closely followed curriculum of an average high school history class. For example, important battles of every war besides WWII and The Civil War were skipped over. Also many of the atrocities committed by figures in American history were left out. Overall good book that can be read multiple times as a refresher on American history.

[Jennifer Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great comprehensive overview of major American Historical events, from 1492 through 1974.

[Martyn Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book twice and find it an easily digestible and useful source of information or reference. It's written matter of fact and the little illustrations are also a nice touch perfectly in line with the type and scope of the target audience. In short it does what it says on the tin!

[Ishayu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember The Alamo?: American History In Bite Sized Chunks by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale achieves all of the goals it sets out to complete, but the flaws in those objectives are its main pitfalls. In an effort to make history accessible to all people, important details are cut out of it. The reader does not get the full picture, and without context history can be misconstrued very easily. The lack of information can cause it to fail in the underlying intention of all nonfiction books, which is to inform. Making it more accessible at the price of cutting out context is not a price worth paying. In addition, it is very choppy and disjointed, with very little connecting material between periods of history. History is a subject which adds onto itself. Every facet of it affects the formation of more. The lack of connection between events can be confusing without prior knowledge of the history mentioned. This can lead to the book not being more accessible, but rather requiring the reader to be knowledgeable in the subject area. This could have been avoided by not trying to make it quite as simple. By increasing complexity of the novel slightly, more background information could have been given which would have allowed for the audience to understand the novel better no matter their knowledge base. The idea of allowing everyone to understand history is great, but for it to work in practice, it cannot be oversimplified. All that being said, the book was an enjoyable read. It was never slow or boring, and had enough action for me to want to keep reading. It shares very little resemblance to a textbook, and reads almost like a novel. The tone of the book is mostly academic, but it is the events mentioned that make it interesting. One can see the tone when whilst writing about why the birth of unions was necessary the author says, “Moreover, ethnic diversity among America;s new immigrant workforce led to clashes between Italian and Irish, Irish and German, and European and Chinese workers, and made cooperation seem unachievable” (Rattle & Vale 113).

[Caitlin Litz · Rating 3 out of 5]

?????? Not one MENTION of Alexander Hamilton. Have the authors not heard of the musical??? All kidding aside, I needed this book. The high school US history teacher I had didn’t teach at all. He was a horrible teacher and a horrible person. And I’ve gone so long having to piece together certain parts of history and make sense of it all. I’ve always blamed him and will continue to do so.
I actually read this book backwards in chunks. I started with the last section and read each section going back. I skimmed colonial America Bc that shit is boring. I did learn quite a bit and will keep this on hand as I may need refreshers. Also it didn’t talk about all the bad shit Colombus actually did and gave him 2 paragraphs of credit. And then no Hamilton. Alas, 3 stars.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those times when you can judge a book by its cover ... this book's coverage of a wide range of events in American history is truly 'bite sized' so it clearly hasn't promised something it isn't. Imagine it would be ideal for those with little knowledge of US history and while I was familiar with many of the events, it will - has - prompted wider research. My only bitch, well, not really a complaint, is that it somewhat inexplicably stops with Watergate ... nothing else has happened in America in the past 43 years?

[Patricia Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

think this is the same book..remember the alamo is not part of the title of the book I read, but it is
american history in bite-sized chunks. each page is a summary from something about the american march to being a country from Columbus' discovery, Betsy Ross's flag, the civil war, world war I and II, ending with the resignation of Nixon. appreciate that each situation was simply presented for easy reading. too bad that it ended with Nixon, but perhaps there will be a continuation of history to be discovered and printed by these authors. I would recommend this to middle schoolers.

[Sarina Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand this book is just tidbits and that important explanations may have needed to be left out due to length. My main issue is the lack of impartiality in the writing. I shouldn’t know if the writers favored or disagreed with certain historical people, doctrines, events etc. The book is suppose to just be bite sized history facts. I think it should be left to the readers to make their own opinions on the subject matters. Aside from that, I liked the format. It was like a quick refresher of American history.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a different edition with a slightly different title (no “remember the alamo” in it) and cover, but I’m sure it’s the same one. Very useful for someone, like me, who studied American history a long time ago and needs a refresher. I think it would be too sketchy and disjointed for someone studying the material for the first time.

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Good; from Columbus to Watergate, bite size chunks of American history and significant Americans are presented

[Mike Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like these short story style books (several stories in one) good read, love history, very informative.

[Phillip Lecheminant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy did I need a refresher on American History. These lessons truly are bite sized, but it covers all of the big events from the discovery of America up to Watergate.

[Barbara Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Nice high level info on historical dates.

[Eric Hersh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the format, each page discussed a different historical fact. However they did play it a little loose with the facts of what they were discussing.

[Kevin Kuehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, easy-to-understand oversimplifications of American history.

[Tayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good brief overview for those who know nothing about America. It ends rather abruptly though.

[Craig Helliwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent way to dip into many of the major events that have shaped America.
Particularly interesting reading as Trump just re-elected as you can see many parallels through America's history

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid summary and refresher

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to help prepare me for my citizenship test and I really enjoyed it. It’s great and a must for every person who wants to have general knowledge about American history.

[Abhilash Ravishankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content is just alright. But format is innovative. 1-page summaries of ~150 key events/characters in American history. Great read for non-Americans

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is misleading. The book contains cursory, one pages "facts" on American history events. There is no reference given for any event which leads to the question of whether the authors got their information from reliable sources, made it up, or researched Wickapedia in which anyone can post anything. A reference for each historical event would allow the reader to do further reading on any subject. As a retired history teacher with degrees in history and political science, I found the work to be lacking in substance.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

It really is just the highlights of American history in brief. A good review of the basics! Somehow I thought this would be more like "Stuff you Missed in History" and was excited for that. So not what I expected (my own fault). Didn't end up finishing it because I didn't want to read basics I already knew about.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a timeline of our American history everything from Columbus landing to Salem witch trials to Richard Nixon's impeachment proceedings. It covers so much in one book. Some of the things I remembered some I did not. It was good over the time I have spent reading to refresh my rusty memory. I keep a few books for night stand reading this has been one. I enjoyed it.

[Bobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read and a wonderful introduction to American history. I've already got family members lining up to borrow this book

[chloe xu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning new snippets of history! This book was perfect for that. Concise but also very interesting (especially if you know very little about American history like me)