Rating: 
Summary: An excellent conservative History of the Amercian people.
Review: Recently I had the opportunity to read A History of The American People, written by the British Historian Paul Johnson. In his book Johnson covers American History from the pre-colonial period all the way to modern times in the United States. An interesting fact about the book is that the author of the book, Paul Johnson is not an American. Because he is a British Citizen he brings an interesting bias twist to American History. Johnson's novel is extremely conservative and he focuses on the great-man theory of American History. In his book Johnson includes many small tidbits of information that at times seem somewhat out of place. An example of this would be when Johsnon gives the reader the names of George Washington's dogs and how many spoons his father owned. However, he does cover many different details about American History including religion, politics, economics, and of course the many causes and effects of the major conflicts of American History. One of the things that is unique about Johnson's book is the fact that he is one of the only writers that uses religion to express American History. I found his use of religion in his book to be interesting because it gives you a different perspective of history that you don't normally recieve from modern historians. Johnson lists religion as one of the keys for the success of the American Colonies. One of the details that is left out of Johnson's book is the lives of the lower class in American History, including women. Johnson uses powerful and influential men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson to illustrate his conservative version of over 400 years of American History. Because of this I think that Johnson's title is a little off the mark. His title should read, in my opinion, A History of the Powerful and Influential People of American History. This title better illustrates the content of this book written in support of the main players in history. Johsnon's book is an extremely informative chronology of American History that incorporates many lost ideas such as the role that religion played throughout history. If you enjoy reading about the great political, religious, and military leaders of American History then I would recommend reading Johnson's book. However if you want a more balanced version of American History then I would recommend reading Howard Zinn's marxist version of U.S. History.
Rating: 
Summary: if you have a whole summer with nothing to do, read this boo
Review: Paul Johnson's 1,000 plus page book, "A History of the American People" does talk about all aspects of history (i.e. polotics, economics, people, etc..), however, this is too much, yet it is too little. Johnson goes into such great detail that he says too much, such as naming all of Washington's dogs and he skips out important details such as the role of women in colonial America and the Revolutionary War. Not all parts of the book are like this, though. There are parts in the book (such as the section on "king cotton" and development of the cotton gin) where Johnson uses the right amount of detail. The reader can picture what is going on without being bored to tears. All in all, I did not like this book. I found the abundance and the lack of detail throughout most of the book to make it a very hard read. It takes time and energy to stay alert and understand what is going on in the book. It would make a great summer read if one were inclined to spend the whole summer on it.
Rating: 
Summary: The reading that put me to sleep
Review: Paul Johnson is an author that tries terribly hard to try to show that the upper class and the rich created this great country and their minds are the minds that invented every structure to this country. His total forgetfulness of the under class or the truly poor people and how they made a impact on this country is unforgiveable. The Revolution in which gave America its freedom, and in which was won by the sweat of the poor, was only explained by Johnson by saying how the rich property owners benefitted, and gives no inclination of the affect the poor made. That also is not forgiveable. He seems to feel they were just unimportant to America's history, unlike Zinn, who takes just the opposite view point. Johnson seems to think us as intellectual readers would rather want to read what kind of spoons and forks Washington used, or what kind of whores hung out at the corner, or what kind of temperature is the best studing temperature, than hearing important facts on the whole. Johnson seems to have a understanding of the history of America, but I feel does a terrible job at portraying it in a way that gives the most open and honest explanation of that history. To my best opinion, if you want to truly read a book that best describes the way America's history was throughout the last 200 plus years, and how each and every class precisely affected the outcome of events in this coountry, it wouldn't be this book.
Rating:
Summary: Johnson's book has it moments, but not too many.
Review: I am a student at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. This was one of two books that were assigned for reading in my History 110 class. This particular history class recalls American history from 1492 and up to 1877. In class we would discuss the readings from the night before, and in my class, Johnson always seemed to get bashed on a lot for what he talked about in his reading. I bashed on him too because of the way that he throws certain stuff in that doesn't seem too important. For example, Johnson lists everything that George Washington's father owned when he past away. Down to how many napkins he had. Stuff like this was written throughout the book. Johnson really only touches on the major names in American history such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Andrew Jackson, etc. I have learned of these people in my High School history classes and only these people. It would be nice to hear more depth in a book like this. This book is called "A History of the American People" so it would be nice to read more about the history of the "little" people. Johnson does not get into the oppression of women and the fight against slavery and other issues concerning the everyday person. More should have been written about stuff like this. Johnson seems to paint a pretty picture for American history by giving examples of the people that prospered but leaving out the ones who suffered. All in all this book in my opinion does not deserve to be called "A History of the American People" due to fact that it seems to be more of a history of the elite people in the United States.
Rating:
Summary: Poor version of American History
Review: I did not get a good impression of Paul Johnson's A History of the Amrican People. The first problem with the book lies whithin the title. He calls it history of the American people , when it is more like a bad biography on the political leaders of this country. Johnson uses pointless facts to explain these politicians to try and glorify them. When talking of George Washingtons belongings in his home Johnson lists "six good pairs of sheets, ten inferior ones, and seventeen pillow cases, thirteen table-cloths and 31 napkins". What was he trying to prove when he listed this stuff? Johnson seems to be infatuated with money and property. The more an individual had the more words they recieved in the book. Johnson misses many issues in his book. The largest one being slavery. He basically says it was an economic necessity of the South. He never really questions the humane aspects of it, nor does he make it clear that it was a terrible establishment and should never have existed. Johnson's writing itself is slow and uniteresting. He rambles through facts without a descent expanation. Most of the time if you don't have a good previous knowledge of the issue you would have no idea what he is talking about. In my personal opinion I would not recommend reading this book. It is very boring and uninteresting. The reeading is confusing and many times pointless. Spend your time on a different book where you might actually learn something.
Rating: 
Summary: Visualization is lacking in Johnson's book.
Review: Many people throughout time have given countless interpretations of history. Paul Johnson is no exception, however he does a great job getting his point across with his limitless amount of proof. For example, Johnson did a great job of describing the early years of George Washington. He goes into so much detail that it shows proof of how Washington really grew up. Some of these details were new to me and I had no prior knowledge of it. For instance, on page 123 Johnson talks about how Washington became a land surveyor and a very good one at that. Despite some interesting facts and notes, I felt that throughout this book I found myself not liking Johnson's tone. Johnson seemed very monotonous and the things he had to say went through one ear and out the other. The way Johnson writes and expresses his points of view, I feel would better suite old men sitting around a table eating crumpets and drinking tea. I guess Johnson just did not do it for me. Not to say others would not enjoy his book. I am the kind of reader who reads and then tries to put himself into the reading. If I can not visualize what is going on in the book then it's hard for me to stay interested in a book. Johnson is more of an intellectual writer who uses big words and loves to drag things on forever. I would have liked it better if he had gotten straight to the point with less minute details and endless facts. In this case bigger did not necessarily mean better. So in conclusion I think Johnson's book was well done, but it just wasn't my cup of tea!
Rating:
Summary: Full of unuseful facts about history.
Review: Johnson's book is full of interesting but not really useful facts about elite people in American history. He blends the facts with information of the elite, such as George Washington. I found that Johnson's book left about the little people in the history of the U.S., the people he talked about the most were the elite and polictical powers.
Rating:
Summary: Johnson recognizes failure of collectivism
Review: I enjoy Johnson's iconoclastic tendency, and his willingness to condemn "popular" collectivistic ideas (such as welfare-statism), even if he himself is muddled by a religious morality. His constant apparent defense of the wealthy and recognition of the fact that they are the ones who make prosperity possible for "the masses" is very encouraging and refreshing coming from a prominent historian. Too bad he does not fully understand the morality of rational self-interest he implicitly defends in his writings (he frequently makes the mistake typical of most people in general, that of using the word "selfish" as a disparagement). If you want a clear (relative to other historians) take on the bad deeds of collectivists/altruists and the good deeds of free, innovative entrepreneurs, you will like this book.
Rating:
Summary: There are too many inconsistent facts and conclusions drawn.
Review: The partaking of humans within history requires more than the actual events; it also requires the role of the recorder to solidify events for future generations to learn from previously made mistakes. However, a recorder of history must possess a competant understanding of people's actions and the ability to convey the events in a cogent fashion. The conclusions drawn by historical authors are also subject to inconsistencies, like the actions of people, and can serve to divert the actual causes of history into personal interpretations that may or may not be relevant to the historic subject matter. Paul Johnson's A History of the American People offers some qualities that would make an excellent work, but there are also some literary elements within this work that are unnecessary when discussing the history of the United States. Johnson offers some detailed biographies of influential American figures such as George Washinton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln. The historical biographies of these figures strengthen the work because they justify the actions of this people in the context of particular events of their lifetimes. Also, religion, according to Johnson, was a crutial, causal factor in the separation movement away from Britain and future developments in westward expansion. However, sometimes Johnson spends many pages discussing the minute details of people's lives, thus diminishing the point that is being illustrated by Johnson. For instance, Johnson catalogues the personal possessions of George Washington from his family's set of silverware to the names of his thirteen dogs. Another facet provided by Johnson is the history behind the architecture in Baltimore and Washington DC, which was influenced by Renaissance architects. However, also mentioned within these cities are the prostitutes that bother inhabitants and travellers for money. Also Johnson stipulates that the New England region had the ideal climate for brain functions which really has no impact on changing the reactions of people. Despite all of the unique and interesting elements in Johnson's work, there are too many inconsistent pieces of information and conclusions drawn by Johnson. The result is many pages littered with confusing details that the reader has to interpret to fully understand Johnson's idealic tome of American history.
Rating: 
Summary: An Outstanding Commentary on the American People
Review: Some other reviewers have strongly criticized the historical accuracy of this text. However, the author, in his apologia at the beginning of the book, notes that this is not a standard history text, but rather a tribute to the American people. His writing style is far superior to the dry reading of history textbooks as he probes into the psyche of those who shaped one of the greatest powers on earth. Johnson brings history to life!
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