American history, help!

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  • my3boys
    Participant

    We are coming to the end of our school year but we’ve not quite wrapped up history, especially for my high school student.

    It has taken a really long time to get through a couple of the books listed but we need to move on. But, I’d like to finish out the year and I just don’t know what is going to be the best for my ds. He’d like to just get an overview of the rest of this time period adding in some speeches, documents, etc.

    We have all of the Bennett books, America, the Last Best Hope (?) but I’d like an opinion on his books versus Paul Johnson.

    If it helps, my ds has just finished The Boys of ’76.

    Thanks!

    Rachel White
    Participant

    AO recommends the Paul Johnson books

    Johnson is an actual historian (which matters to me, personally), though I tremendous respect for Bennett

    From AO9:

    Option Three:A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson

    A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson: An easier read than Morison (more engaging), perhaps more editorial in places. Juicier than either Churchill or Morison. Very enthusiastically pro-American.

    Year 9 students would read approximately pages 79-269/279.

    Term 1: pg 79-117 (1688-1730)

    Term 2: pg 121-184 (1730-1786)

    Term 3: 184-279 (1786-1815)

    We’re using a combo of Clarence Carson’s mlti-vol series w/TG, James Stobaugh’s Am. History, and for the 20th cen, probably Carson and M. Gilbert.

    If you have Bennett’s, I’m sure that’s fine, since you’re adding in other things

    I would recommend the essays and speech’s found on AO for the history period, as well as some of their other book recommendations (like Arguing About Slavery).

    my3boys
    Participant

    That’s what we ended up with, the Paul Johnson book, I mean. I’m not too thrilled with how our US History turned out but it is what it is. They can always read more later, right? 🙂

    And, we did use a lot of AO to add in some extras 🙂

     

    Thank you!

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