Reading the American Past, Volume 1: Selected Historical Documents: To 1877

by Michael P. Johnson

Book Overview

A two-volume primary source reader with a wide range of documents representing political, social, and cultural history, Reading the American Past: Volume I: To 1877 shares the voices of an even wider range of historical actors in a manageable and accessible way.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312564139
• ISBN13: 9780312564131
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Bedford Books
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

neat!

This was assigned as supplemental reading in an American History class i took. I actually ended up reading the whole thing! Excerpts from various documents throughout history, such as the diary of Martha Washington for example. There are a lot of neat narratives in this book that give you the more humanistic side of history.

Much needed book

I wasn't to happy about how long it took the book to get to me, but I got it just in time for my class.

is there a need for this 3rd edition?

Johnson offers the student excerpts from a sampling of primary historical sources, covering the period till 1877. The stress here is on the student reading for herself contemporaneous accounts, that convey an immediacy that texts written much later often lack. There is a good sweep, from Spanish to British to American narratives, as a reminder of the complexity of the historical experiences. Having said this, I am uncertain as to the actual need for this 3rd edition, as contrasted to the 2 earlier editions. It's not like a vast new source of documents has suddenly emerged that necessitates a radically changed presentation.