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Reviews
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard
rns's review
2.0
2.5⭐️ This rating is kind of unfair because the book was educational. It’s just so hard to rate a school book highly because I’m forced to read it and can’t appreciate it as much as a book I pick out for myself.
maxikf's review
4.0
An excellent historical account of the various forces that shaped the major cultural and political divisions in the US (and all of North America, really) today. Despite being written before the current political turmoil in the US, it is a prophetic and thought-provoking look into whether the cultural and philosophical rifts between the various US "nations" have become too deep and irreconcilable and whether a loose confederation akin to the EU would be a more practical solution than the dysfunctional marriage not currently working for any party involved.
atebbe's review
5.0
Provided many great discussions for our book club. Such an interesting read, but a bit dry at times. We had a lot of fun discussing the different regional cultures and which ones we each fit in best. While I'm tentative to categorize groups of people, the author does an excellent job at providing historical and present day analysis for his argument. Definitely a must-read for anyone with even a slight interest in politics, history or both.
lynn_pugh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
bentd's review
2.0
really interesting read that sometimes felt like it illuminated or clarified certain social or political aspects of the US, but especially towards the end his political biases became way too obvious and left the book hard to take as seriously as the beginning — claiming southern baptists want to institute “the equivalent of evangelical Sharia Law” in modern America was a bit of a stretch. Not bad, but not amazing either. Far too biased for me to like that much.
bioniclib's review
4.0
This is a fascinating read. Even if this wasn't an election year and all of the distinct regions of the US weren’t constantly reflected upon in regards to whom they’ll vote for, I’d still really enjoy it. There is very little that unites the US. The Civil War wasn’t the first time states thought about seceding.
Yankeedom puts emphasis on education (but their Puritanical brand of education) and getting involved in government.
Tidewater wants to maintain an aristocracy.
Greater Appalachia just wants the government to “get off their lawn”.
Then there’s El Norte, which is home to the oldest building in the country, which is in Santa Fe, not Roanoke or Jamestown. This particularly struck me, but it really shouldn’t have. I learned that “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” then we learned about Roanoke and that mystery in 1590. Jamestown was in 1607, so what, pray tell, was going on betwixt 1492 and 1607? Yeah, lots of stuff.
The first 3/4th of the book traces how each of these (and more) “nations” came to be and how they influence people living there. The last 1/4th tried to cover the 20th and 21st century but it kinda falls apart. What helped these nations form their distinctive traits was due in no small part to isolation or at least delay in communication. Today, there’s not really all that much of a delay in events. Which isn’t always a good thing…
In any event, if you’re at all interested in American history, this book is definitely worth a read. If you couldn’t give a hoot about it, then you MAY still be interested. I’d suggest picking it up either way.
Yankeedom puts emphasis on education (but their Puritanical brand of education) and getting involved in government.
Tidewater wants to maintain an aristocracy.
Greater Appalachia just wants the government to “get off their lawn”.
Then there’s El Norte, which is home to the oldest building in the country, which is in Santa Fe, not Roanoke or Jamestown. This particularly struck me, but it really shouldn’t have. I learned that “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” then we learned about Roanoke and that mystery in 1590. Jamestown was in 1607, so what, pray tell, was going on betwixt 1492 and 1607? Yeah, lots of stuff.
The first 3/4th of the book traces how each of these (and more) “nations” came to be and how they influence people living there. The last 1/4th tried to cover the 20th and 21st century but it kinda falls apart. What helped these nations form their distinctive traits was due in no small part to isolation or at least delay in communication. Today, there’s not really all that much of a delay in events. Which isn’t always a good thing…
In any event, if you’re at all interested in American history, this book is definitely worth a read. If you couldn’t give a hoot about it, then you MAY still be interested. I’d suggest picking it up either way.
rachel_ls_gebauer's review
4.0
Fascinating look into the cultural and political underpinnings of the Euroamerican conquests and expansions into North America. This book explains a lot about the fault lines of the differing "nations" that comprise the United States, Canada and Mexico ( hint: there are more than three and they cross state and country borders) I saw that several reviewers didn't appreciate the authors discussion of our current divided/ divisive situation in the US, but I found it to be pretty accurate. While reading the Epilogue, I had to go back and double check the publication date-- book was published in 2011, but eery foresight into recent events that have occurred since.
pcdbigfoot's review
3.75
Interesting theory on our regional differences. The author traces back to the cultures that settled into different parts of today's US, walks us through relationships between each and the others, then the eventual alliances that have evolved.
I found most of it pretty compelling, although there are the occasionally annoying sweeping generalizations sprinkled in too. Example of the former is how the alliance between the Deep South, Tidewater (Virginia and parts of the Chesapeake), with Appalachia formed during Reconstruction (although Appalachia fought with the Union), and how it's endured. Also interesting is the distinction the author makes between the foundational beliefs in Yankee 'freedom' verses Southern 'liberty', perhaps stemming from the class composition of the early European settlers in each.
This one ticks a number of boxes for me - history, culture, sociology, politics. If you share these interests, check this one out - worth a look.
I found most of it pretty compelling, although there are the occasionally annoying sweeping generalizations sprinkled in too. Example of the former is how the alliance between the Deep South, Tidewater (Virginia and parts of the Chesapeake), with Appalachia formed during Reconstruction (although Appalachia fought with the Union), and how it's endured. Also interesting is the distinction the author makes between the foundational beliefs in Yankee 'freedom' verses Southern 'liberty', perhaps stemming from the class composition of the early European settlers in each.
This one ticks a number of boxes for me - history, culture, sociology, politics. If you share these interests, check this one out - worth a look.