Product Description

The Horrible History of the USA is bulging with the nastiest and meanest moments in American history since cruel Chris Columbus first sighted land...What to know: Which president was so scared of electric switches, he slept with the light on? Why Cowboys declared war on sheep? How to survive a civil battle? Read on for ghastly details on the grim Pilgrim Fathers, find out the truth about Bill the Kid and Calamity Jane, and see if you could have survived on the American Plains. History has never been so horrible!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74538 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

The USA Horrible History Special with mixed reviews, but what are a few inches......?
Considering other reviews, this could possibly be one of Mr Deary's more controversial books under the HH banner, but worth reading, nevertheless.

The 'specials' in the 'Horrible History' series may appear to be on the expensive side but they are slightly bigger than the normal titles, standing at c 8.5" high.

From the back cover:-

'The Horrible History of the USA is bulging with some of the nastiest and meanest moments in American history since cruel Chris Columbus first sighted land....

Want to know:-

Which president was so scared of electric switches he slept with the light on?
Why cowboys declared war on sheep?
How to have a civil war battle?

Read on for ghastly details on the grim Pilgrim Fathers, find out the truth about Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane, and see if you could have survived on the American Plains.
History has never been so horrible!'

Paperback covers open to 192 matt pages, spil over 9 main chapters, in a variety of fonts with numerous black and white illustrations/cartoons plus timelines and quizzes:-

Cruel Columbus
Savage settlers
Rotten revolutionaries
The nasty nineteenth century
The uncivil war
Potty presidents
Legends and lies
The wicked Wild West
The terrible-twentieth century

with an introduction, and an epilogue (please see above image).

Written with typical Deary humour:-

e.g. 'Did you know..........?

General Custer was famous for more than his hair! He was famous for his bum! Custer was such a tough, long-distance rider the Indians called him 'Hard Backside'!'

A good read, even for Americans!
I am American and we lived in the UK for 5 years. Right after we first moved there, we bought our son the book, The Groovy Greeks. It kept him entertained through a nearly three hour bus ride and he kept going back to it, so we knew we'd found a winner. My son has enjoyed all of Terry Deary's books and still reads them even though he's 13 now. I'd recommend The USA because a lot of American history that American kids are taught in school is a lot of "America is the greatest country in the world" propaganda. This is, needless to say, less biased in that area without being too anti-American. More importantly, it's an interesting and amusing book so kids will want to read it. I wish these books were easier to find in the states.

Another success for Terry "Brilliant" Deary!
Terry Deary has done it again, offering a book with lots of interesting facts in, gory stuff and humour to go with it. If there is ever an author that you look forward to reading it is Terry Deary who is master at knowing when you should be serious or funny and how to please his readers, not bogging his books down with tedious history dates and text-book history. Another brilliant book from a brilliant author. This book includes even more humour, interesting and gory facts and things that not even your history teacher would know!