The Cartoon History of the United States

Larry Gonick's Cartoon Histories are roadmaps to history; like Wikipedia, they're not something to use as a primary source, but they are an excellent starting point for looking up more detailed information. Gonick gives a good overview of the flow of events leading up to 1991, targeting some of his most pointed snarkiness at the unwholesome behavior of even the most iconic figures of history.

I don't enjoy this as much as Gonick's Histories of the World. This is done in a much cruder style, and while I still applaud it and recommend it to people who enjoy history, it's not something I could get lost in. It's less a comic and more of a text with punch lines.

We do a multi-stream history cycle and this book was both a thorough and funny look at American History.

Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the United States is, in my view, not quite up to his Cartoon History of the Universe. I feel like his approach is a bit too pedestrian compared to Universe. He covers mostly familiar ground whereas I think he took thinks in a slightly more quirky direction in Universe. Even the artwork doesn't seem quite as rich as it did in his other work.

I still enjoyed the book and it can serve as a good introduction or review of American history, but it's just not the spectacular standout his other stuff was. Then again, the US history stuff pales in comparison to World history for me, so that may be more autobiographical than objective. But then again, what isn't?

Think history is borning? Have a child struggling in history class and don't know how to help them? This book could be the delightful solution to your problems. Good drawings, readable and with accurate history to boot, complete with lots of little details that most history books leave out. I for one had no idea that telephone operators in the 1960's would chat with customers for hours about nothing.

I love Gonick's "Cartoon History of the Universe" series, but with the edition on the United States, he is more sketchy both in historical content and in his artwork. It is a step down but still worth cracking open, as always he makes history fun.

This is useful for a general overview of events and Gonick has an engaging style. Unfortunately, much of the appeal of a cartoon guide comes from the visuals, and they don't hold up to the text in this edition. The illustrations are at least at the same level as the text in his other works, and this one simply isn't engaging enough to recommend to anyone who needs more than a basic introduction to the topic. I may recommend it to students who haven't taken US History yet, but that's probably it.