leasummer's review against another edition
3.0
It’s a history of the US, politically. It’s well written, well researched.
Depressing AF and I wish more people were familiar with the actually history of our “great nation”.
Depressing AF and I wish more people were familiar with the actually history of our “great nation”.
zeraphyr's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Hate crime, Colonisation, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Gun violence, War, Racism, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Mass/school shootings
argorden's review against another edition
5.0
Cannot recommend highly enough. Only complaint is that there's a bit of bothsidesism in the section on the 21st century.
edemir's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.25
I don’t know who the audience for this book is. If you have a critical understanding of history - then this book will have lots of familiar topics that aren’t explored in much depth. If you haven’t read a history book since high school then perhaps you’ll find it informative as Lepore does a decent job of expanding the traditional narrative to incorporate diverse voices and yet I still wouldn’t recommend this book because there’s a number of false equivalencies. For example, there’s a particularly shaky section where she compares Stokely Carmichael’s rhetoric to President Nixon’s without elaborating on Carmichael's rhetoric in enough depth to warrant the comparison. There’s some standout sections - I appreciated her section on the revolution, though I wish she had provided more depth to that analysis. The contemporary section is somewhat compelling. However she focused mostly on the press, presidents, and conservative activists; without much mention of specific liberal activists in contémoste movements. I don’t necessarily regret reading this book but I don’t feel it adds much at all to the historiography. I’m left unsure who really should read this book.