Jenkins (history and religious studies, Pennsylvania State Univ.) has written a short but fairly comprehensive "from the bottom up" history of the United States. He views this country as a distinctive society radically different from its European roots. Jenkins covers the major political, social, and economic developments but is especially notable in his treatment of the cultural and religious facets of American life and the role of groups sometimes considered "outsiders": racial minorities and political dissenters. He also discusses the American tradition of identifying and stigmatizing "dangerous outsiders" and the significance of this tradition for our cultural and political history. The writing is plain but straightforward. Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll., New York

Jenkins outlines the evolution of U.S. history in this digestible account of the major traditions and events that have shaped our nation. From the voyage of Columbus to the advent of the Clinton administration, several unifying trends and patterns are identified and examined in detail. The author applies a thematic approach, emphasizing the tremendous impact that territorial aggression and expansion, ethnic and racial conflict, regionalism, and evangelical and apocalyptic religious beliefs have had on the political, economic, and cultural developments that have driven and defined the course of U.S. history.