Portrait of America: From the European Discovery to the End of Reconstruction (1)

By Stephen B. Oates

Book Overview

Portrait of America is an anthology of essays written by some of America s most eminent historians. Suitable for U.S. history survey courses, the collection has a loose biographical focus. The essays in this secondary source reader humanize American history by portraying it as a story of real people with whom students can identify.Each selection is preceded by an introduction that sets the context and a helpful glossary that identifies important individuals, events, and concepts. The Eighth Edition includes an essay in which six major historians reflect on the historical significance of September 11, 2001.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395554276
• ISBN13: 9780395554272
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin School
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating History Book

Describes history from Christopher Columbus all the way to the 14th Amendment in a fascinating account. An interesting read for anyone interested in the history of America to the year 1877.

Fantastic supplement

A secondary source reader is a hugely valuable resource for teaching American History. Portrait of America is a fantastic supplement to any US History Survey. Each essay, written by a prominent historian, provides a sophisticated analysis of certain events and personalities in American History, in more depth and detail than any survey text provides. The variety of viewpoints taken by the authors also provide an excellent springboard to discussions of historiography. I use it as a supplemental reader, along with a survey text and a primary source reader, for teaching an Advanced Placement US History course. I have also used individual selections for teaching non-AP level US History courses to high school students.

A Flowing Reach

The book contains various writings about the time from Reconstruction to the end of the Cold War. The assembled multitude of capable scholars, from Eric Foner on Reconstruction, to Paul Fussell on the Great War, all combine clarity and brevity of text with insightful analysis to make this an enjoyable read. The questions at the end of each selection make this even more useful to a high school U.S. History teacher and his students. The range of topics also adds to the enjoyability of the book. The topics include Sitting Bull, Women's Suffrage and WWI, the Bomb, Vietnam, Betty Friedan and Richard Nixon, among many other people and events. It is well worth the read.