Give Me Liberty!: An American History

There are several repritings of this book floating around- this is the one we have used with the orange on the cover.This is the book I used to teach my three children U.S. History. Some colleges use this book I believe and several AP teachers I know use this book for their classes. There is a more recent printing available now but this is the one we have used and if I can save and still have a quality book, I'm going to do that. So we didn't order the most recent printing.One of the things I liked about this is that the publisher offers support in the form of author videos that you can watch before each chapter. In the video the author talks about what you will be learning about in the upcoming chapter. If you want to sign up and pay for more access you can access quizzes etcThis book is very dense. It has a lot of information for a not very big book. It is an interesting read, I enjoyed reading it even though I have finished school many years ago.I believe that if you read this book and then took the Clep exam or AP exam in U.S. History you would pass the exam and get the credit without taking the class.

Great. Condition, really fast service

Purchased this as the required text for a college class, was pleased to find the author's writing on the events of this time period(Reconstruction to early 21st century) was neither excessively liberal nor conservative. Foner does a fair job of bringing historical events to life, and his writing is very insightful.

The perspective that Give Me Liberty presents to its readers is predominantly one of the voice of the under represented or disenfranchised in the history of the United States. Professor Foner makes a concerted effort to convey how the average citizen experienced the history occurring around them and casts them as players in that drama.What I have found surprising though is that for an academic text, Give Me Liberty often lacks objectivity to the point where Professor Foner blatantly injects his own subjective opinion into the text. It isn't even that he is giving examples of the thinking of others which would reflect his thesis; he just comes right out and tells you what he thinks. An example of this can be found on page 656, in the section which discusses "The New Imperialism." Foner writes, "... eventually, they would be accorded the right to self-government, although no one could be sure how long this would take. In the meantime, 'empire' was another word for 'exploitation.'"While I may agree with this sentiment, I was under the impression that an academic text, especially one intended for a college-level audience, should, as objectively as practical, present the facts and allow the student to exercise their critical-thinking ability to consider the evidence and draw their own conclusions to the material presented.Another minor issues I have with the the text is that Professor Foner has a tendency of using unattributed or anonymous quotations. An example of this is "... one historian has written,...." Well, if it is one historian, who was it? I can understand if he is making a generalization of how a large group of people felt about a topic, but if it is just one person, can't you attribute the quote to them? I don't necessarily expect footnoted references, but at least say who the person is.Even with the issues that I have presented, I have given Give Me Liberty a four-star rating because of the fact that this text has caused me to look at American history from a much different perspective than that which was presented in other American history classes or as portrayed in popular culture. If you are open to the ideas presented, it will definitely give you a fresh perspective into what the American Experience has been for the majority of the people who have experienced it.

If you are sick of the way information is skewed to reflect liberal or conservative views of the same events, this is your book. It is by no means perfect, but it does describe things from enough perspectives to make sure it isn't leading you to believe certain opinions about events. Rather, it simply reports them and reports many points of view. I highly recommend this even if you are NOT buying it as required text for a course.

Honestly i can't expect much. I bought it for 10 bucks and it'll do what i need it to do. All the pages are there and its not colored all over. The only down side is that the book smells like it has been marinading in a tub of ghanja for weeks. I guess ill be getting a contact high every time i need to do some homework. None the less, great deal for the money.

It was supposed to come with the brief edition as well and it didn't so no I am not satisfied at all.

I had to have vol 1 and 2 for history classes. I love the way the author tells the "stories" of history. I like that this book isn't just dry facts, but tells about people's mindsets through the time periods as well. I am not going to sell my copy back simply because this is a wonderful read that I wish to keep on my shelves.

Good

tres bon livre, malheuresement il est tres annote et parfois illisible, de plus il y a des autocollants un peu partout donc bon...

Excellent and comprehensive survey of American history from Reconstruction to the present. The ideal companion to any course in modern American history.

I bought this book for a university module. I went in knowing absolutely nothing about American history and having not read volume one of give me liberty. However Foner's book does not require any prior knowledge and is very accessible and easy-going, I was reading 30-50 pages a day without becoming tired of it.This is not a criticism but a warning against using this book as anything but an introductory text, it covers all the basics, however further reading will be essential to flesh out the skeleton structure which Foner provides. If you already have a sound basic knowledge of American history during the period covered you may benefit from buying a more detailed text and simply find this in a library where you need a refresher.The book serves its purpose as an introduction, however when I return to studying American history I will probably not use it substantially.

Very good condition, pleased with this order