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Summary: Definitive
Review: This is one of the definitive works on American history. It goes much deeper than other general American history books by exploring not just events, but the mindsets of the people making the history. This makes the book not only informative, but interesting and provocative. It shows that our history is much more than just dates, facts and figures. I'd highly recommend this for anyone who wants to gain a much deeper understanding of how this country evolved into what it is today.
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Summary: An exhillirating ride through American History
Review: If you read one book on American history, this is it...period!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: Excellent review for high school and college level. A great book to come back for. Definately a keeper on the shelf.
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Summary: Magnificent, a tour de force of writing
Review: This is the latest from Paul Johnson, joining such notables as Intellectuals, the Birth of the Modern, the History of Jews, the History of Christianity, Modern Times...they are all wonderful, enriching studies brimming with quirky little known facts and cemented with the author's European classically liberal outlook.What makes all his works so thoroughly readable are the tales of individuals he weaves almost seamlessly into the flow. We learn new things about Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Eisenhower. Plus we learn about the unknowns - that throng of individuals who made contributions to the society and material prosperity and intellectual freedom we enjoy today. The Story of America is basically an optimistic work as he sees this country as an experiment still percolating new freedoms, material products and leading the world into an American future. He writes that the American people are probably the most pragmatic in the world, relying on experience and tradition rather than some new-fangled theory as Europeans are wont to do. This basic foundation serves as a bedrock for our nation - both culturally and societally. If you want one book about America, this is the one to get!
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Summary: A fascinating history of a diverse people
Review: Writing a history of America today is an arduous and thankless task given the plethora of cultures and backgrounds that demand "equal time." Johnson's volume is an excellent overview of the diversity of a great land. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Get Aquainted With the Main Players in American History
Review: This book makes the key figures in American history come to life. It reads like a novel and is hard to put down. I had not been a lover of American history until I read Johnson's work. He presents all sides of America's big names, and, unlike most works, presents his opinions AS OPINIONS. You will learn little know facts about America's presidents, statesmen, philosophers, and religious leaders. The author is moderately conservative, a nice change from the party line of the politically correct. On the other end of the spectrum, the ultra-conservative will not aprpreciate Johnson's inclusion of the negative attributes and the sometimes non-religious nature of some American patriots. It is evident that he attempts to be objective and tries to reach reasonable conclusions. If you can only read one book about American history, make it this one. If you have found American history pale in comparison to European history, this volume might change your mind.
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Summary: Biased? No kidding...
Review: Lots of people here seem to be upset that this is "biased". So Johnson should subsume his viewpoint and write a book that takes the same old, tired approach as every other book out there? Instead, we have a fresh take on the same facts that every other historian can work with, with the difference being that those historians tend to view the world from a left-liberal perspective. Johnson doesn't. If his critics can show that he's using information that is factually wrong to draw his conclusions on Roosevelt, Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan (the only ones that seem to be causing any uproar), then that would be one thing. But interpreting the facts from a different perspective than the norm is not a failing. With that said, I can only give it four stars, for a couple of reasons. First, some of his facts, as has been pointed out by others here, are incorrect (not so bad as claiming that the US dropped the atomic bomb to end the Korean War, as one history book I've seen said), and should be corrected in any future editions. Second, it is a bit of a tough read at times, but I think that tended to be when he talked about areas of history that simply don't interest me. For others, those may have been the best parts of the book. So give it a try, if you want history from a different perspective than you probably have heard if you attended the public schools. It's worth the effort.
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Summary: Terrific but full of typos and inaccuracies
Review: Johnson's "Modern Times" was, in the opinion of Richard Nixon and plenty of other people worth listening to, the best nonfiction book of the Eighties. It sold an amazing 6 million copies. The rest of his books, while always interesting, aren't in that class, but then, what is? His History of the American People is lively and sweeping, with lots of fascinating idiosyncratic looks at entertainment and the arts. The problem is that the proofreading and fact-checking are shameful. Johnson is getting on in years, so he's making more minor mistakes. Since this book was a guaranteed best seller, the publisher should have hired some starving American History Ph.D. to read the manuscript and fix all the little faith-sapping things wrong with it.
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: Johnson's conservative treatise couldn't be more opposite to Zinn's..."A History of the American People." Obviously, depending on what end of the political spectrum you are on, one book will appeal to you more. The one main difference between the two is that while Zinn is skeptical of everything and even admits to his hero's shortcomings...Johnson refuses to look at conservative leaders objectively and honestly...Regardless, Johnson's book is well written and covers some details Zinn misses -- it is a good, if opinionated, read (which makes it more fun!). I recommend reading Zinn and Johnson only for those well versed in history, able to know that Zinn and Johnson are writing through their own lenses, and can differentiate between fact and fiction.
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Summary: Entirely too many factual errors...
Review: While I admire Paul Johnson's conservatvism and think that he has some interesting takes on American history, I thought the book had too many factual errors to be taken seriously. For example, Johnson confuses Confederate generals Joseph Johnston and Albert Sidney Johnston, complimenting Joseph's performance at First Bull Run (rightly) and then crediting him with leading the surprise attack at the Battle of Shiloh and saying he was killed there (wrongly...that was ALBERT SIDNEY Johnston...Joe was still back in Virginia). He also credits the Pinkerton Detective Agency with providing Union general George McClellan with excellent military intelligence, which is absolutely false. Pinkerton provided McClellan with outrageously inflated estimates of the numbers in Lee's army, contributing to McClellan's excessive caution. I'm just scratching the surface here, because these types of factual errors are scattered throughout the book. Paul Johnson should've researched the material more thoroughly.
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