George Brown Tindall (1921–2006)

So I used this textbook for AP US History in high school, and I keep it around as a reference point for things I learned (incorrectly) in high school--basically to get a sense, as a scholar and future professor (hopefully,) of what students are learning and what the dominant narratives being spread are. I was told in high school that the textbook was chosen because it was the cheapest option with color photographs, though that was in 2010, so lord only knows what the market looks like now. I show more will say that even at the time, the text was riddled with typos, with some pages making almost no sense at all because sentences repeated themselves or words were missing. There were also images that were misidentified--a picture of the Constitution was labeled as the Declaration of Independence (or vice versa). Adam Jortner has also written about this textbook in his essay in Why You Can't Teach US History Without American Indians and the way maps are used to eliminate indigenous presence (an essay I strongly recommend in a book I strongly recommend!) so that is also something to consider. It did prepare me to be able to spit back the dominant narrative on a standardized test, so I guess it did its job, but I'm sure there are at last marginally better books out there. show less

This was the textbook for my American History class, but it was extremely readable and made the subject matter very interesting and accessible.

This is the 4th edition. A seeming thorough, fair, and objective look at the history of America from the migration from Asia to 1995. They have an 11th edition in 2 vols. with a publication date of 2019, which I am thinking of buying. This is an excellent history, well worth the expense.

It's a textbook so it's definitely not something you pick up for fun. However, I liked the format and it wasn't completely dull. It gives a good overview of American history so if you are looking for something like that, then this is the book for you.