Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1863 (with InfoTrac and American Journey Online) - Hardcover

Murrin, John M.; Johnson, Paul E.; McPherson, James M.; Gerstle, Gary; Rosenberg, Emily S.

3.28

54 ratings by Goodreads

9780534169411: Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1863 (with InfoTrac and American Journey Online)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0534169414 ISBN 13: 9780534169411

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002

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This best-selling introductory American history survey text provides students with a clear understanding of how power is gained, lost, and used in both public and private life. Central to this text are the themes of liberty, equality, and power, as well as the shifting relationships and tensions between these evolving concepts. The authors use these themes to convey the complex reality and diversity of America's history.

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About the Author:

John M. Murrin studies American colonial and revolutionary history and the early republic. He has edited one multivolume series and five books, including two essay collections?COLONIAL AMERICA: ESSAYS IN POLITICS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, Sixth Edition (2010), and SAINTS AND REVOLUTIONARIES: ESSAYS IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY (1984). His own essays cover topics ranging from ethnic tensions, the early history of trial by jury, the emergence of the legal profession, the Salem witch trials, and the political culture of the colonies and the new nation to the rise of professional baseball and college football in the nineteenth century. He served as president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic in 1998?1999.

Review:

"I found LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER to be a very well-written and sophisticated look at American history. ... The maps are superior, the best I've seen in any text. The prose/poetry on the coming of the Civil War and the Civil War is exceptional and would surely make the (it) come alive to students of the 21st century. Analysis of the large forces that shaped the...era is synthesized with excellent individual vignettes about the people...who faced those forces and challenges. For example, there is a splendid look at Abraham Lincoln for such a limited space."

"I like the title's implication of conflict and tension better than consensus-type titles...."

(Regarding Chapter 14) "The conflict between North and South that threatened to rip the nation apart is clearly revealed. There is an excellent analysis of the interplay between economic, social, political, cultural, and ideological factors that make the late 1850s such a tumultuous time. The story of "The Impending Crisis" has often been told, but seldom as well as it is here."

(Regarding Chapter 15) "Compared to (other texts), this text (even in the concise version) is far more detailed and nuanced on military history."

(Regarding Chapter 15) "The chapter does not make secession into a morality play.... Excellent analysis of the nitty-gritty aspects of war: tactics, why this was a "modern war," and the roles of the navies and diplomats in the war enrich the text."

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