Rating: 
Summary: A delicious treat!
Review: I have been savoring this book in small bites for the past several weeks--it is my treat to look forward to after a long, hard day at work!I first discovered Paul Johnson's "Intellectuals" when I was in college, and the fierce, debunking portraits he painted of the movers and shakers of modern civilization were a revelation to me. His "Modern Times" was equally informative, entertaining, and shocking, because Johnson fearlessly subverted long-cherished truisms and backed up his "wild" assertions with a straightforward historicism that was a pleasure to read. So when I heard about this book, I couldn't wait to take a second look at my own country's history through this man's eagle eye and unflinching perspective. But none of Johnson's previous works led me to anticipate the buoyant, at times bubbly tone he takes on as he describes America's natural, political, moral, economic, and cultural bounties. Paul Johnson loves America! Who would have thunk? Yes, I am aware that he brings a conservative perspective to his analysis, but that has never stopped him from using his judgemental, acerbic tone to great effect in any of his previous works. But when he considers the effects of economic hope and political self-determination on millions of "ordinary" (as opposed to intellectual or connected) people, he loses all former traces of stern acidity. It's a beautiful thing to witness! If you want to learn about your country, have your biases challenged, and savor juicy tidbits about the movers and shakers of our land, this book is a must-read!
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Summary: American History for History Nuts
Review: This book is simply the best book I have ever read on American history. Paul Johnson's writing style and unsurpassed grasp of research into demographic, political, religious, cultural, military and economic areas is woven into a masterful summary of the people and personalities which have shaped American history. The narrative moves seemlessly from one important influence and time period to the next, challenging myths and legends of the founders and foundations of the American Republic and debunking current myths about recent political leaders. America's uniqe culture and history and important place on the world stage is shown to be a result of the special culture of individual responsibliity and moral and religious underpinnings. This book has driven me to buy and read the rest of Mr. Johnson's works. If you buy one book on American history, is should be this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A jaw dropper on Nixon
Review: I haven't read all of this book, but I have just read the portion about Nixon and Watergate. I almost tripped over my jaw (which was on the floor) as I made my way downstairs to write this. Not once in the 4 or 5 pages devoted to Nixon and Watergate (a witchhunt, in Johnson's delueded opinion) is any mention made of wrongdoing on Nixon's part. No mention, for instance, is made of Nixon's attempt to obstruct justice by attempting to have the CIA stop the FBI's work on the break-in. I don't know what this says about the objectivity of the earlier chapters, some of which I have read and enjoyed. Not being a great student of American history, I have nothing with which to their objectivity. But this Nixon debacle does not offer me any encourgagement. (1 star rating based entirely on the Nixon stuff)
Rating:
Summary: a mammoth effort: post-1960 stuff is good, too
Review: Paul Johnson's book makes all of American history entertaining and interesting for the general, if open-minded, reader. There are two prominent Amazon reviewer comments that I disagree with:
1. The Suggestion that we should ignore the post-1960 material
I agree that after 1960, Johnson's description of events appears to be largely sympathetic to Nixon and an aggressive attack on Kennedy. This is not necessarily due to a change in Johnson's analysis as it is the familiarity of the readers with the subject. We have to stop expecting American history to be something not to be questioned. Johnson had every right (and obligation) to argue against affirmative action, for example, as much as he had the right to refute the popular understanding of the riots in New York during the Civil War. "Objectivity" is an impossible standard in history; instead Johnson gives us his conclusions and judgements with the reasons he has for making those judgements.
2. The "anecdotal history" comment
This history is anything but a collection of anecdotes. Johnson includes many stories to give us an understanding of the personalities of historical figures, but this book is packed with facts and numbers, fully referenced. "Anecdotal" history would be what most Americans had to sit through in high school. Not so with Johnson's book.
I don't give this book 5 Stars for being perfect. It is not perfect. Many episodes of American history are lightly covered and in my opinion under-represented. That is why one should find other books (e.g. Max Boot's book on small wars, Eric Schlosser's book on fast food) that do an excellent job filling our understanding of how America in its present form came to be. But I believe Johnson's book to be the best of its kind, by quite a margin.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting personalities...
Review: I get a kick out of all this 'objectivity' nonsense when people talk about history. I have yet to read anything, much less a history book that does not have a bias in it. All writings are written by people and since all people have preconceived notions and ideas about everything, it will show through in the writing. Johnson is a conservative and clearly favors democracy and free trade and is clearly anti-socialism and government interference (he seems thoroughly familiar with economics and the tragedies wrought on humanity by those who are not). Throughout this book, he presents a powerful arguement to back these ideas.
Johnson, also, finds historical people much more fascinating than historical events and ideas. With an elegant style, he brings to life personalities that have been dead for centuries and is able to shed light on how they influenced events. Also, he talks about how people were and not just about the ideologies they put forth. This provides for a remarkable look at some of America's most influential mothers and fathers. Johnson discusses what he sees as flaws in a person's character and balances this with what he sees as virtues, leaving no doubt as to whether or not he views a person as fundamentally virtuous or flawed.
In addition to this human view of history, he takes the time to discuss cultural history in addition to political and economic history. He mentioned many works of art and literature, as well as artists and writers, providing me with a nice reference of American art and literature.
Like many of his other books, his writing style is superb. And he provides a very human touch to history.
I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of your money
Review: Ha-ha. Another Paul Johnson gem. Had this been labeled "fiction" I'd give it five stars. Basically, this untiring Anlo-Saxon supremacist wants us to belive that Britain is the flower of humanity and the Americans are really well-disguised Englishmen. Oh, and the French are EVIL.
Rating:
Summary: An Anecdotal History of America
Review: "A History of the American People" by British historian Paul Johnson is a comprehensive coverage of the subject in an anecdotal style, highly readable and liberally seasoned with the author's opinions. Among the high points are descriptions of relatively obscure events which appear to have had more significance than their obscurity would indicate. A few examples, taken from the eight periods covered in the book:
1. Colonial America (1580-1750): South Carolina was settled by a large number of emigrants from the British colony of Barbados where slavery was already established on a massive scale. This heritage led to South Carolina's preeminent role in defending slavery and precipitating the Civil War.
2. Revolutionary America (1750-1815): George Washington almost single handedly started the French and Indian War when colonial soldiers under his command surprised a camp of French troops who, taken unawares, instinctively ran for their muskets. Not waiting to see what would ensue, Washington ordered his troops to open fire, killing ten of the French including their commander. In the early years of the republic, the roles of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Chief Justice John Marshall were especially instrumental in paving the way for the development of capitalism.
3. Democratic America (1815-1850): This is the age of Andrew Jackson who greatly broadened participation in American democracy, abolished the Second Bank of the United States (partially undoing Hamilton's legacy), and decisively defeated the Indians in the old Southwest (Florida to Louisiana). Jackson's other contribution to history was in facing down South Carolina when that state attempted to nullify the tariffs adopted by the federal government and threatened secession. Jackson retorted that secession was unconstitutional in that the constitution forms a government, not a league. The United States is a single nation and the states have no right of secession. Thus, Jackson, a southern president, born in South Carolina, set the precedent for Lincoln's position in the Civil War.
4. Civil War America (1850-1870): The Confederacy never seemed to realize that the power of its national government, perhaps its legitimacy, and ultimately its existence were compromised by its position on states rights. Holding to the belief that the states are the ultimate sovereign entities prevented the Confederacy from effectively marshalling its forces in the war with the North.
5. Industrial America (1870-1912): This was the era of weak presidents and the development of Industrial America. Lacking heroes in government, the heroes of this era were the industrialists and bankers who vastly improved the economic condition of the common citizen. There were scoundrels (Jim Fisk and Jay Gould) but the big names (including Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford) were not among them. Interestingly, when Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust was eventually broken up, it was on the verge of losing its monopoly status by the rapidly expanding market for oil and the subsequent rise of competition from Gulf and Texaco.
6. Melting Pot America (1912-1929): The election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912 changed the scope of American government tremendously, laying the foundations for the subsequent emergence of the New Deal and Great Society welfare systems. The failure of the US to join the League of Nations following WW I was not the recalcitrance of an isolationist congress but Wilson's unwillingness to accept any change to HIS treaty, even though the European allies had indicated their acceptance of the proposed changes.
7. Superpower America (1929-1960): This is the era of the Great Depression, WW II, and the Cold War. The Depression was triggered by the long run of easy money supplied by the Federal Reserve, especially by Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the regional bank which still acts as the agent for the Fed in conducting open market transactions. Near the end of the bubble, when the stock market failed to continue hitting new highs in 1928, Strong observed that he would give the market a "shot of whiskey" in the form of another interest rate cut. When the bubble evernually burst, rather than allow the long over due correction to take place, President Hoover attempted to pump up the economy by direct government intervention. The ideas that Hoover failed to act out of devotion to laissez faire and that Roosevelt saved the country by instituting the first large scale government intervention in the economy are both myths. Their programs differed little in either content of effectiveness. Furthermore, the enactment of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff effectively exported the recession to Europe and was probably a significant factor in the subsequent rise of Hitler.
8. 1960-1997: The author's opinions seem most pronounced in the modern era, perhaps because many of us remember living through these years and perhaps because it is here that he is most at odds with the conventional "wisdom". He identifies the leading characteristics of this era as the radicalization of the press and the undermining of all authority. The press is cited for its unquestioning support for the inept crusading of Kennedy and Johnson (until it dropped its support of the Vietnam War late in the Johnson administration). Their "pay any price, bear any burden" rhetoric produced the Bay of Pigs fiasco, massive but ineffective increases in welfare spending, and the Vietnam War. Curiously, the author holds up Richard Nixon as the hero of the era, the statesman who extricated us from Vietnam, abolished the draft, and laid the groundwork for the ultimate defeat of communism by his opening to China. He views Ronald Reagan (somewhat undeservedly) as the light weight partner of Margaret Thatcher. (She was the greatest western leader of the second half of the 20th century and deserves the primary credit for the roll-back of socialism in the west and the defeat of communism. In her shadow, even Washington and Churchill might not shine as brightly.)
Overall, this book was a delight to read, beautifully written, absorbing and thought provoking. I differ with a few of Johnson's opinions and note a few omissions. In particular, in his attempt to rehabilitate Nixon's reputation, he fails to cite Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls as a major contribution to the subsequent inflation and recession of the late 1970s. He correctly notes that the prestige and authority of the presidency reached a nadir after Nixon resigned and congress attempted to fill the power vacuum during the weak presidencies of Ford and Carter. It's curious that he does not credit Reagan for restoring the presidency to its former prestige and authority, as that would seem to be a logical conclusion to his theme of the diminished presidency. However, even in 1000 pages, one can not deal with every aspect of American history.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Narrative Synthesis of American History
Review: Paul Johnson seems to turn out one vast doorstop of a book after another, and few subjects in Western history escape his curiosity. This work is a warm, rich, easy-reading narrative of the United States from the early settlers to the present day. It is no secret that Johnson - like many British writers - is a religious man, and his faith makes him particularly insightful at describing the religiosity that is such a vital part of the American foundation. Johnson's interest in art and culture and his gift for the telling anecdote make this a book that should be read, not simply referred to.
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Summary: Brilliant -- a remarkable work about America & its people
Review: For all of us whose ancestors came from distant shores, or however we ended up as "Americans," this book is rich in details, events and trends that have been woven together to describe our history and what it means to be an American.
This reader gained a new sense of pride in what America is and how our history has evolved, and where we are apt to go as a people in the future. The United States is a melting pot, or a rainbow of different colors, religions and ethnicities, and therein lies its soul, strength, creativity and diversity, and yes tensions. Johnson's weaving of minute facts into a tapestry that is "us" deserves to be read and reflected upon by all. We may not agree with each and every observation or conclusion, but we cannot help to be impressed by the sweep of history that Johnson chronicles and how he methodically marshals his facts into a remarkable and coherent whole, of which each of us is an integral part.
I only hated to see the book end, and wished that that I could read about the next 100 years of this "grand experiment" called democracy, but those pages are being written in history with each passing day, month and year. While it took the arrival of a new millennium for Johnson to share this monumental undertaking with us, let us hope that similar brilliant works are forthcoming.
Rating:
Summary: Should be mandatory reading for every American
Review: I recently decided to brush up on my American history. I knew one of the books was going to be Howard Zinn's 'History of the American People.' Standing in the bookstore with little to guide me, I chose Johnson's book as my antidote to what I knew would be Zinn's overdose of problems. Having finished both books, I am a newly invigorated American. Zinn does a good job of pointing out everything that is wrong with this country. Everyone should read his book carefully (I am not being facetious - it is important to know this stuff). Johnson (a Brit, by the way) does an even better job of pointing out how and why the real people of America (the ones Zinn has a hard time acknowledging) are 'strong, outspoken, intense in their convictions, sometimes wrong-headed but always generous and brave, with a passion for justice no nation has ever matched.'
Those of us who want to be familiar with our country's history, but do not have time to read everything that has been written about it, are well served by these two books. We have inherited a wonderful country. There is much to do to make it better. But there is every reason to believe we will continue to make progress in the future, if we are reasonably familiar with the mistakes we have made in the past.
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