Product Description

Readable and provocative and written with Paul Johnson's customary vigorous, direct and colourful style, A History of the American People charts the sweep and drama of America's history through its politics and economics, its art and literature and science, its society and manners and, not least, its complex religious beliefs. From Walter Raleigh to Bill Clinton, Paul Johnson casts an admiring but not uncritical eye over events and personalities through the past 400 years. 'Written with a wonder and affectionate curiosity that sweep the reader along...This is the kind of book that brings new readers to its subject by its freshness, its enthusiasm and the quality of its writing' Godfrey Hodgson, Independent 'A masterly rendition of America's unique and rambunctious past that is vivid, thoughtful and absorbing...The book is a gallery of engaging pen portraits, elegantly wrought in a few strokes...Much of the book is a collection of these colourful patches which the author has artfully sewn together into a giant, vibrant, breathtaking American quilt - Johnson at his entertaining best' Raymond Seitz, Sunday Telegraph

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233970 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1142 pages

About the Author
Paul Johnson was born in 1928 and educated at Stonyhurst and Magdalen College, Oxford. He has enjoyed a varied career, which includes army service and international journalism. He has contributed to many of the world's most famous newspapers and magazines and has travelled to all five continents to report events, interview presidents and prime ministers for the press and TV, and to lecture to academic and business audiences.

Customer Reviews

A factual but enthusiastic walk through America's history
An interesting and informative book. Johnson broadly defines his subject geographically (the territories now comprising the mainland United States) and chronologically (the post-Columbian period) but his real aim, and his great skill, is to trace the origins and history of the political entity, and the people, now known as the USA. There is little coverage of Indian history, but that, to be fair, is outside Johnson's mandate.

Johnson's style is anecdotal and character-focussed. Perhaps because of this, he is at his most formidable when dealing with the early days of the Union, when great individuals could truly influence the shape of a nation. However his writing remains colourful, yet pertinent and firmly grounded in fact, throughout. Other areas of strength include Johnson's ability to decipher the true founding principles of the American project, and to express them through the eyes of the ordinary American; and to mark out the role of religion as a creative force, especially in the earliest days of settlement.

Johnson's style is enthusiastic and he is not afraid to show that, as a historian and an Englishman, he greatly admires the American nation. His approval, however, is factually backed, and he is not afraid to criticise those who, though devoted to their own concept of the American dream, had their heads in the clouds or their fingers in the till. He has thoroughly mixed opinions of such American luminaries as Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Overall his work presents a generally balanced tone though the reader may wish subsequently to explore the work of more adverse Americologists.

If there is one criticism of the book, it is that it becomes thinner in its coverage of issues during the twentieth century. But Johnson has perhaps wisely stuck to the theme which he enjoys most, and is able to most thoroughly explore - America in the early days, when the ideals and projects of settlement and union were at their most defined and resilient, strong in the face of the adversity posed by colonialism, economic strife and racial division. And the author is not afraid to pose controversial viewpoints in respect of later periods, as illustrated by his coverage of Watergate, where he stages what amounts to a fascinating defence of the besieged Nixon.

For those with the time to spare to delve into, and digest, this work, Johnson's is a thoroughly rewarding history.

Just Buy It, OK
Simply stated, this has got to be one of the best one volume histories of the USA. The author writes with enthusiasm for his subject and also a lot of love and respect for the whole American enterprise. The book itself is a real page turner and challenged some of my own preconceived notions about certain events in American history. It was a delight to read and was one of those books that I was actually sad about finishing in the end. Just read it and above all, enjoy it.

Hugely satisfying and deep monument to US History
If you are interested in the history of the United States, from the first European settlers through to Bill Clinton, and have several hours to spare to study the subject you cannot help but enjoy Paul Johnson's marvellous journey through America old and new. Johnson keeps the reader interested by provided a portrait of the main protagonists through the comments of their contemporaries, as well as their own writings and provides analysis of the thousands of issues that have made the United States what it is today, from settlement to revolution and from civil war to world war, enabling the reader to envisage and understand the trial, torment, tragedy, triumph and resolution that has forged the USA. An absolute must for any scholar of US history, or of US relations with Europe.