The Americans: The Colonial Experience

by Daniel J. Boorstin

Book Overview

Winner of the Bancroft Prize. "A superb panorama of life in America from the first settlements on through the white hot days of the Revolution." - Bruce Lancaster, Saturday Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394705130
• ISBN13: 9780394705132
• Release Date: March 1964
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

great book

This is an excellent work. That said, you should know what you're looking for when you pick it up. If you are trying to find a history textbook to give you a factual synopsis of the major events in American history, this is not it. This book reads like a collection of essays on different policital, cultural, and intellectual trends in Colonial America. Like any other collection of opinions, there is plenty of room for disagreeing with some of Boorstin's analysis and conclusions. Still, he supports his positions well, and the book is packed with insights that will expand your understanding of colonial America. This work is well written, and readable, but you will probably get a little more out if it if you already have a solid background in American history. In any case, it would be highly worth your while to pick up.

History at it Best

This is a young work of Boorstin and even years later it still lives up to its greatness. The first book of a trilogy, it sets the tone for the two to follow. We are not given a dry reading of dates and places and wars and settlements. Instead it is a readable story of movements, nations but most the individuals - both known and unknown - whose influence continues with us to this day.This mix of biographies and historical happenings makes for an enjoyable, entertaining and enlightening work.

This is why Boorstin is one of my favorites

I love to read American history and Daniel Boorstin is one of the best. After reading this book, I had a much better understanding of the American colonial experience. I also understood to a greater degree the affects that Christianity has had on our culture. In this book, Boorstin compares three colonies. It is interesting to read the cultural differences. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the origins of our nation.

Great read for American Consumer History

Boorstin outlines the fundamentals and development of American consumerism and capitalism of the 19th Century. A great read for understanding why America was the great attraction of emigration. A good emphasis is put forth on how much American ingenuity happened by accident. This book is excellent for describing who we are, how we dressed, how we ate, and how we profited from it. Like the rest of Boorstin's works, this is a must for any student of history!

An essential rendering of early America

Boorstin, one of the leading American historians, has written a riveting series on this country's early development. Told in such an engaging manner that you will find it hard to put down, he gives you the real story, warts and all, of how we came to be a nation. Not the rah rah breastbeating of your typical junior and senior high textbooks and avoiding any incursions of political correctness, this series should be read by all Americans.