> a good history book about North America

Wow, that's quite a request. North American consists of three very large and disparate countries, with histories as long as Europes. What time period? Specific topics - such as colonization of each country - might be easier to find.

And btw, which thread do you want to use?

Cindy, my original request for a book on American history was made several years ago and met with no comeback. A second appeal was answered by Frieda who recommended a weighty tome, which she had just dropped on her toe. Since then I have found America by the then New York based journalist and broadcaster, Alistair Cooke which gives a good overview of mainly US history.
The reason I am interested, apart from the fact that history was always 'my subject' as we say over here, is that when American (ie US) history was taught in English schools we 'did' the early colonies along with all the other 'voyages of discovery' followed by a long gap then a quick look at Wolf on the Heights of Abraham and on to the War of Independence. Because of all the other wars, treaties, famous men, industrial expansion etc. this doesn't get the same amount of space you would give to the subject. Speed on another 80 years or so and we touch on the Civil War and bingo we are up to WW1 and WWII.
The history they seem to teach in today's senior schools appears to start at WW1 and go on to WW11. Younger kids happily dash between the Ancient Egyptians, dinosaurs, maybe the odd Viking, possibly the Armada. All this without being given any sense of 'time'.
I am hopeful that the Kathleen Burk book might fill the large void in my knowledge so I get a better overview of life in the US in the last four hundred years.

Of course I appreciate that 'American' history goes back as far as that of Europe, it is just that we have so many more written records, plus the physical evidence of old buildings and so on that exist to make our interpretation of the subject easier and more detailed.
Is there anyone else out there with an interest in history and if so where, who and what?

Vee, was it Albion's Seed that I dropped on my toe? I've forgotten that incident, but I do recall that AS is a brick of a book -- one that has many interesting parts but is also quite tedious at times.

I've noticed in general that U.S. Americans get larger doses of British history in school (or we used to, don't know if it's still true) than do students get American history in British schools. Perhaps it's because your history (up to the Revolutionary War, at any rate) is also a large chunk of our history while our history is a smaller part of yours. Thereafter we diverge in our shared interests, which is only natural, I suppose, but it leaves both sides a bit muddled. Of course there are British who know more about American history than many Americans do, and vice versa, so that's why I say "generally."

The Burk book sounds interesting, in an Anglocentric sort of way, but if the focus is the shared parts of British and American history then the centrism is understandable. I definitely will look for and read it.

As for "filling in the gaps" of American history, I'm afraid that no one book will ever be able to do that, particularly overview-wise. Reading several (many) books synoptically is the only way, I think.

Frieda, thanks for coming back on this. Burk is an American though she seems to have spent some time over here at Oxford (Uni) and now is Professor of Modern History at London University. I would expect that someone of her academic background/standing can produce as unbiased as possible work about the history that units or separates our two countries.
I enjoyed the article (below) she had written " . . .biography is a b*tch" as a response to her bio on the UK historian AJP Taylor. I felt something of the overheated, incestuous world these people inhabit!

Here is a link that might be useful: Burk on bios

Vee, years ago on this forum, I recommended "Albion's Seed". I read it and enjoyed it, but found a few errors in the author's interpretation. I still recommend it, but it is not for everyone.

Of course, there are many of us on this forum with an active interest in history. The way you worded your original post, asking for one all-encompassing work on the history of North America threw me, so to speak, as I see the histories of Canada and Mexico as quite separate strands from that of the U.S.

This may not be what you want, but 2 well-written books about 2 different time periods of U.S. history which I recommend are: Barbara Tuchman's "The First Salute" (the American Revolution" and Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" (re the Lewis & Clark expedition West).

I also liked "Plymouth" but cannot recall the author's name.

>as I see the histories of Canada and Mexico as quite separate strands from that of the U.S.

Ditto. Lemme go do some searching else forum and see if I can come up with some good histories of each country; that might help give you an idea of where your interest lies and you can narrow the search from there. Stay tuned.

Vee . my suggestion would be Allan W. Eckert, an historian, naturalist, novelist, poet, screenwriter and playwright. The author of thirty-nine published books, he has been nominated on seven separate occasions for the Pulitzer Prize in literature.
Dr. Eckert's best known historical narrative, The Frontiersmen, from which he adapted his drama, Tecumseh!, won him the Ohioana Library Association Book-of-the-Year Award in 1968.
His widely-acclaimed series of historical narratives entitled The Winning of America consists of six volumes, including The Frontiersmen, Wilderness Empire, The Conquerors, The Wilderness War, Gateway to Empire, and Twilight of Empire.

To complicate things further, "American" history must be told from the viewpoints of different ethnic/nationalistic origins and gender groups (Native Americans, European-Americans -- besides the English, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and women). Throw in differing religious persuasions and you've got a huge amount of material which cannot be boiled down -- with any justice -- into an overview.

I found Pierre Berton's books helpful in understanding Canadian history. There are so many books about Mexico that I can't think of just one that I could recommend, but the history of Mexico is so intrinsically tied up with the history of the American Southwest that it probably predominates over the British influence in most every way, except governmental.

I think I remember, Vee, that you read (and enjoyed?) Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey, so I would recommend Covered Wagon Women: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails if you can possibly get a hold of any of the eleven (I think?) volumes.

Unfortunately most of the general surveys of American history that I have ever encountered have been textbooks, which are not notable for readability. There is just so much information to cover, even considering the relative youth of America. Then there is the trend among historians toward more focused studies instead of the broad, sweeping narrative.

Although it is still a textbook, one of my favorites is The Great Republic, edited by Bernard Bailyn. Granted, I read it for a Colonial history class so we only read the first section.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions which I have noted down.
Cindy, I must admit I know next to nothing about the history of Mexico (or S America). The only thing UK schools used to teach was cruel Spanish Conquistadores searching for gold and Christian souls.
It is probably because it was the one quarter on the globe in which the early English 'Empire Builders' held little sway, ergo few English speakers settled there. From the one-time colony of British Guiana it is necessary to travel all the way down to the Falklands to watch a game of cricket.
Mary re 'the errors in the author's interpretation' in Albion's Seed that is probably what keeps even more history books being written.The plain facts are never considered enough and one writers 'errors' are another's irrefutable truths.

A very good book (fiction) about Mexico is Hummingbird's Daughter. Gives an excellent look at Mexico after independence; its a good overview as well as an excellent story. I know what you mean about it being off the radar for those in the UK; it probably is more applicable to Spain and Portugal. But Mexico, Central America, and South America have fascinating pre conquest histories that are well worth discovering - the Aztecs, Olmecs, Mayans, Incas, had societies as complex as other parts of the world. I have long wondered what they would have become had Spain not discovered them.

Veer
I bring up this because I came across this article this morning in The Economist that made me recall
your search. (IÂm not sure if it fits your quest properly) I cut and paste the whole article because is not
available on the web unless you are a subscriber
Hoping youÂre still interested. If not forgive me for having you wasted so many bits

(I seem to remember there was another person searching a new book about American History for
her/his father , but I may be wrong about it.)

grelobe

America's Three Regimes: A New Political History.
By Morton Keller
The American colonies were not like those in other parts of the world. Royal governors came to
plunder but found that American planters and merchants could not easily be bossed around. Sir
Danvers Osborn, a Briton who was made governor of New York in 1753, was so upset when the
New York assembly refused to support him in the style he felt his rank deserved that he asked:
"Then what am I come here for?" At which point he hanged himself.
Morton Keller, a history professor at Brandeis University, likes to take the long view. Other
chroniclers of American history talk of "ages" (Reform, Gilded, Jazz etc) that lasted no more than
a decade or so. Mr Keller sees continuity where others see helter-skelter change.
"Americans like to think of themselves as a people eternally young. But the reality of our public
life is very different," he writes. The constitution, rarely amended, is nearly a quarter of a
millennium old. America's legal system and political parties are among the most durable
anywhere. Even in the revolution against King George and his pesky emissaries, Mr Keller sees
not a clear-cut break with the past but "the product of nearly two centuries of colonial
experience", in which the settlers took old-world ideas of liberty and expanded them.
Mr Keller has somehow crammed the entire political history of the United States, from the first
colonists until nearly the end of George Bush's presidency, into a single slim volume. He is
breezy without being glib, and original without being eccentric. He divides American history into
three regimes (as in ancien régime): "Deferential-republican", running from early colonial times
until the 1820s; "Party-democratic", from the 1830s to the 1930s; and "Populist-bureaucratic",
from the 1930s on.
In the first regime, Americans clung to European notions of hierarchy even as they created a
new andÂfor the timeÂunusually democratic form of government. Ambitious young men during
this period, such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, adopted the manners of the
elite. Hamilton even fought a duel. This was an aristocratic pastime, but as Mr Keller observes,
America democratised it somewhatÂHamilton's opponent came from snootier stock and would
never have fought him had they both lived in Europe.
In the second regime, the franchise expanded and politicians started to boast of having been
born in...

grelobe, than you for going to the trouble of hunting out this thread and posting the comments about the above book.
I have put Old World New World on my wish list; perhaps for next Christmas.
Cindy I got Hummingbird's Daughter from the library (surprised that they had it) but must admit I found it very difficult to follow. I could understand the 'words' but the under lying meaning/whole thought processes and superstitions of those people were so alien to me I found it difficult to finish.
Perhaps I should look for a 'Simple History of Mexico' to fill me in on the details.

Having just read back over all the interesting comments people have made and through their absence the lack of feed-back from many regular RP'ers I shall have to take it that American History is not as interesting to many of you as possibly European History eg Roman/Medieval/Tudor, and if it were not for such 'block-busters' as Gone With the Wind or Cold Mountain many younger Americans would only have a hazy interest in their country's past?
Am I widely off target?

Vee, I have hesitated to post on this thread, altho American history is my most important area of interest. I took your initial question about North American history to include Canada and Mexico. I don't know of a book limited to those three countries as a group. There are many books about Canada-US or Mexico-US or the Americas, north and south, but not just North America.

American (US) history is such a vast topic that I think most books focus on one era or aspect of that history. For instance, my special interest is American women from European settlement to 1940, particularly autobiographies, biographies, memoirs. Others are obsessed by the Civil War or the Revolution or myriad other topics.

A one-volume history of the US is something most of us encountered in school. We might not pick up such a book today for pleasure reading. I was a history major in college (university) and in fact our basic text for the general intro course was two volumes and even that left a lot out. Like the existence of women--exactly one sentence on the woman suffrage movement. And all text and few illustrations, I might add. When my kids were in high school, I was very impressed by how much the illustrations, charts and other graphics added to the value of their textbooks.

I would recommend that you read a good high-school level textbook on American history. It will include plenty of information on US encounters/disputes with Canada and Mexico, and other nations of the Americas.

One issue to be aware of is that, since the 70s, textbooks have taken a distinct leftward turn in their interpretation of American history. Many make no attempt to avoid bias.

I think people didn't reply to your post because the kind of book you asked about may not exist. The question then becomes on how you could get your hands on an interesting high-school level textbook and that requires some mulling over.

I completely agree with what ginny wrote. However, there is the series by Henry Steele Commager and Samuel Elliot Morrison, which was thought highly of, re American history, when I was a student. Some may find them somewhat dated now.

I was favorably impressed by the NF "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick, which deals with the settling of Massachusetts not only from the European point of view, but from the Native American POV, as well.

I don't agree that most Americans prefer European history. Our own is more than fascinating....

Ginny, I think you are right and a High School type text book would be the best way to get an 'over-view' of US- American history. Certainly the books that were being written from the late '60's onwards (in the UK) were taking a left-wing bent towards the UK's recent past, especially the achievements of the Victorian age and anything to do with the expansion of the Empire were really given a bad press. It is only recently that a more balanced view is given.
Mary, would you say that younger/High School US students are 'aware' of their history? Over here many people who were 'taught' history in the last 20/30 years have only the most vague idea of the 'Past' and can make little sense of how events follow one another or about the personalities that shaped our country eg Florence Nightingale, Oliver Cromwell, even Winston Churchill.
apropos of changing attitudes to historical events my daughter while studying modern history at university was taught that Hitler was not such a bad chap/monster and cannot be totally blamed for the atrocities of WWII. How ideas are a-changing.

I think I would agree that many Americans are fascinated with a particular piece of history, the Civil War, the Westward Expansion, the Revolution, World War II, and devour every bit of information they can get on that topic. They may assemble book collections on their chosen era, build their vacations around it by travelling to sites where major events took place, even join historic re-creation societies.

However, I would also say that the majority of U.S. citizens have only a hazy notion of our history, vaguely recalled from high school days, and they weren't paying close attention even then. Those same people would have even less idea of European history, or ancient history, or history of the Middle and Far east, not to mention pre-Colombian America. An exception would be if they saw a movie on the subject, which is why movies that pay fast and loose with historical fact do such damage.

Rosefolly