American History: A Visual Encyclopedia

I love the Smithsonian books! We home school and these books are an excellent "spine" or guide to a broad topic. With each chapter, I use sticky notes to write down ideas, etc. It's easy to plan ahead. The information is doable for elementary kids (some explanations and elaboration needed) and the pictures are superb. This book would be great for anyone wanting a broad overview of American history; it's a great scholarly jumping off point. EDIT: Just a heads up if this makes a difference to anyone. Going through and reading the text, it's mostly fine, but I did notice that whoever contributed had a tough time setting their personal feelings aside for an objective look at history. There were additions to sentences like (paraphrasing), "The Spaniards/French landed ready to claim the land regardless of the fact that people had already lived there for xxx years" or, in the Colonial section, the adjective "racist" was needlessly thrown around quite a bit; also there was a notable emphasis on the writer's disapproving sentiment (and hence, more negative adjectives) toward Columbus. I'm not about to whitewash any history with my kids; I believe everyone should learn the good, the bad, and the ugly. When I taught professionally for 17 years, we learned about history from a variety of perspectives whether the students liked it or not because that is history. I do disapprove of shoving personal opinions (via adjectives and needless comments, in this case) into an otherwise perfectly good text. We'll keep the book because overall the general information is good and the pictures and set up are fantastic and a good jumping off point; I'm just disappointed that a great institution like the Smithsonian would allow that kind of bias into their published works.

A remarkable book with loads of information, pictures, charts, etc. There's even a chart of US presidents, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. Even though it's considered a child's book, adults will enjoy it and learn from it, as well.

I've been really surprised how much my son enjoys this book. He reads a section A Day Out Loud with me. Then I discuss with him what was in the section. As a history buff I'm familiar with most of this stuff in the book enough to discuss the material with him and explain it. I would say that this is suitable for maybe 8th grade and up to have some really Frank discussions. This is not a college level depth of a textbook but I don't think it's meant to be that. And if you go too deep into the details too soon I think you lose people especially younger students who aren't going to be interested in memorizing and insane quantity of information. We use a US History workbook with this so that when the topics overlap would pause and go back to the workbook and look at the discussion questions to dig a Little Deeper in our reflection of the material. So for instance after reading about the French and Indian War the workbook asked us to compare why the traditional European fighting methods did not work in colonial America. I'm going to say that most Americans cannot accurately discuss the information in this book even to this level and that if they could our society as a whole would be much better off. I don't think the average person needs to go a whole lot deeper than what this book provides unless you happen to be a history major or a history buff like me.

Checked this out from my library to review it and decided I wanted to purchase for our homeschooling library. The history I learned in school was mostly one-sided, severely edited, propaganda. So when looking at history books it was important to me to teach my kids the truth - no matter how ugly because it’s the truth! This book does exactly that especially with the origins of this country. HOWEVER, the last section 2000-2023 I probably won’t use or reference because I lived it and my version may differ from what is presented in the book. So even if we do read it, there will be a lot of discussion of book vs. lived experience. Overall though I do recommend this book. It is simply a teaching “tool”. Use accordingly per your beliefs and values.

I ordered this book to give to my grandchildren because they are not learning about our history in school. I would have ordered four of them, but decided to try one to see if it was too advanced. The children are seven - nine years old. My husband enjoyed the book, but it is too advanced for the children. Still trying to find an unbiased, fun book for them.

I'm using this as an American History spine for one year of homeschool history, along with pbslearningmedia.org teaching plans, documentaries and student activities for specific areas. We will also mix in free YouTube videos, such as from The Nomadic Professor, History Channel, National Geographic, etc., group discussions and research report assignments for deeper areas of interest. After some brief perusing, the book has many colorful photographs and drawings and is logically ordered. Each section starts with a timeline of key moments for that era, then follows with pages of facts. It starts at year 1000 and ends at 2018. Each era starting at 1763 covers anywhere from 15 to 60 years at a time, prior to 1763 information is sparse. The eras have helpful color-coded page tabs. Presidents typically have a two page spread. The appendix contains a typed and small pic of important documents such as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution with its sections and articles, all 27 Amendments and the Gettysburg Address. Plus, there's a spread showing the presidents, and a table of states listing their ratification years, state bird, tree, etc. Overall, it is what I was looking for, a simple and eye-catching spine for one year of American History. In the past we have used Joy Hakim's Story of US series, fleshed out with discussions and assignments for an in-depth 2 year American History study. It can be used for school for any age, with adaptions for older students. Or, utilize it for brief history reading, a fun coffee table book or a simple resource on your shelf of encyclopedias. Like with all history study, one resource will not tell the entire story, or show different historian's perspectives... So you must research interpretations from a variety of sources, along with actual documents to form your own visualization of the big picture. This book was what they advertised it to be, a visual encyclopedia. If you're like us and love educational encyclopedias with pretty pictures to grab your interest, then this would be a good choice.

Nice book. Pleased with simplicity and pictures.

I purchased this American history book a month ago, and I’m very satisfied with it. The book arrived surprisingly fast and in perfect condition, which made a great first impression. The content is well-structured, informative, and engaging. It offers a balanced view of major events and figures in U.S. history, with clear explanations and multiple perspectives that encourage deeper understanding. Whether you're a student or simply interested in American history, this is a great addition to your collection. Highly recommended!

A great book with excellent illustrations! Gives you tons of material to explore and lots of information to present to kids and discuss together! The book includes maps, photos, important people's profiles and provides an excellent structure for understanding every period of American history.

Excellent. Livraison rapide et produit de qualité . Merci

El libro es muy bueno, tiene gran calidad editorial, gráfica y de contenidos. Vale la pena su compra.

Very easy to read and enjoy the facts and photos are very good and interesting.

En el prefacio se indica que es un libro para estudiantes, niños. Evidentemente no cubre en profundidad ningún tema. Es un libro sencillo y fácil de leer para una primera aproximación a la historia de EEUU. No lo calificaría como libro para niños, quizá si para adolescentes (angloparlantes o con bien nivel de inglés). Buen acabado y encuadernación. Llegó sin ningún desperfecto.