The Social Fabric : American Life from the Civil War to the Present

by John H. Cary, Julius Weinberg, Eds Cary, John H. & Weinberg, Julius

Book Overview

The Social Fabric : American Life from the Civil War to the Present This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316130745
• ISBN13: 9780316130745
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Little
• Length: 355 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Details About Daily Life

This book is a collection of excellent articles about the real life experience of ordinary people in the US up to the Civil War. It includes informationa about: women, Blacks, Working People, Soldiers, Immigrants, Utopian Communities, Salem's Witchcraft Scare and more. Perfect for a student needing informantion for a term paper, and fun to read if you are interested in such subjects.

good level of detail about some events in US history

In this short book, the authors attempt to explain the many social changes in American society since the Civil War. The writing is well phrased. As you should expect from an 8th edition. Subjects vary from the role of women in the household and workforce, to blacks in society. Key events like the Great Depression get careful treatment, as they were pivotal in triggering huge changes. Some events, like the home front during World War 2, have descriptions of what it was like that many other textbooks often omit. Like the endemic overcrowding in places like San Francisco and San Diego, as thousands of families sought housing that was often shoddy and overpriced. The sheer overriding priority of the war effort caused this. But other texts gloss over what the resultant conditions were for many families. The treatment of the Civil Rights era is perhaps a little abbreviated. But that may be ok. Many other books cover that in depth.

Great for a survey course

Rather than an endless list of cold hard facts, as normal textbooks can at times be, Social Fabric offers two dozen essays that give you a glimpse of what life was like during different eras in the history of the United States. The representation of native Americans is far superior than the stereotypes put forth by the textbooks I read in school.However, as much a richer source as this book is, it's not as comprehensive as a normal textbook, and essays at times seem biased. After all, the purpose of an essay is to make a point, and as such, may only be one side of the story.

Excellent Collection of Readings

The Social Fabric presents a detailed array of readings insocial history for any United States History course. The readingsspecifically encourage two main revelations: U.S. History has many more interesting stories than the textbooks reveal and the historian's craft is much more complex than many students admit. The anthology is entirely engaging with details about daily life and customs. This book makes great general reading and should be required for all U.S. History courses.