Book 4 of A History of US (or, as they say in Britain, A History of THEM) looks at the United States from 1789 through 1850. Ms. Hakim covers the development of our government under the new constitution, looking at the contributions of our first seven presidents--and then skimming over the next seven. She speaks of the arrival of the Industrial Revolution on these shores and of the drive of our population to the west. She also gives a lot of coverage to the lives and events of America's native and black populations. Having read through this era of American history in the past few years, I kept getting the feeling that she was rushing through too fast. But in the end, I realized that she pretty much covered all the basics. She could have written a book that was ten times as long, but then that would defeat the purpose of covering the entire history of our country.
--J. ( )