In this book, the author takes his students across the country, where they focus on any single aspect of American culture for 30 seconds, max. It is the literary equivilant of name dropping, where the author attempts to shoehorn in the names of as many historic sites, authors and rock stars as possible in between stops for television interviews. In painstaking detail, the author ensures that the reader is constantly aware of the music they play on the bus, and how it is the perfect background for the mood or location. In addition, the reader is "treated" to a laundry list of attractions the group chooses to bypass. Of course, there is the occasional shrine they arrive at too late to tour, like Jefferson's Monticello, and the author is only too happy to tell the reader about their adventure trespassing, instead. Pick up "On the Road" instead.

This could have been a wonderful book, in fact, parts of it are quite good. But overall, the book gets bogged down by the snotty, I'm-smarter-and-more-hip-than-you'll-ever-be tone of its author. Brinkley intersperses snippets of regional history with reminiscences about the adventures he and his students had while touring through those regions. I bought this book fully expecting to prefer the personal pieces to the history, but found the opposite to be true. Being a Canadian with little more than a very basic level of exposure to U.S. history, I can honestly say I learned a good deal from this book.

But in between those chunks of history, one has to bear Brinkley's endless name dropping (he knows Ken Kesey and knew William S. Burroughs, to name but two) and his oh-so-appropriately chosen tapes to play while rolling through each stop on the tour. (Elvis in Memphis, LL Cool J in LA.)

Brinkley should stick to writing pure history and leave the personal stuff out.

I was gifted this book by my Late mentor Tony Bralick, and it made me want to see the world. Its about a bunch of college kids who get credit for touring the USA-its like travels with charley only for credit.

Read this book if you are planning to take a road trip any time soon!

I am bitterly disappointed with Douglas Brinkley's history of the Ford Motor Company, "Wheels For The World".
By way of background, my 84 year-old father worked for Ford Motor his entire life, starting at the Henry Ford Trade School in 1933 as a student and retiring as divisional manager in 1980. I worked for the Company during college summers as a vacation replacement secretary and later in Ford's Marketing Division.
What's wrong with the Brinkley book? It's sloppy. Whoever researched the quotes from long-time executives, like L.E. Briggs, the company's treasurer in the 1940s and 1950s, apparently didn't have the inclination to check company payroll records and give this person a first name -- "Leon" in this case -- or any substantive background so that the reader can better understand the context of his quotes.
It's sloppy in that instead of doing primary research by interviewing all of the living Whiz Kids, Brinkley only interviews the most prominent. He refers to other published works on the Whiz Kids for the majority of his information.
Many key retired executives at the rank of executive vice-president or higher, still living, who would have given this book the analysis and substance it lacks are noticeably missing.
Other people quoted in the book -- like Max Jurosek, who worked with my dad -- aren't listed in the index.
J. Edward Lundy's significant role in developing the Company's first professional finance staff -- that served as a prototype for most American corporations post-World War II -- isn't mentioned at all, nor are the effects of this development. Other important episodes in the Company's history are missing -- like the tampering of pollution control devices during EPA testing in Nevada in the 1970s, as well as payment of illegal monies to foreign governments during this period and the ramifications of those actions.
This is definitely not in the same class as the three-volume Allan Nevins-Frank Hill history of the Company, which ends in 1962. Brinkley's book is lacking any creative synthesis of information at hand. It lacks heart or soul. No wonder it's not on the best seller lists in Detroit.
The definitive work on Ford Motor, particularly post-1962, is still waiting to be written.

This is the story of four men: Henry, Edsel, Henry II and Bill Ford. These four men built and guided Ford Motor Co. to where it is today. It is also the story of the many men who also shaped Ford but ultimately were tossed aside.

This book is a treasure trove of information. For instance, who knew that Cadillac had its roots at Ford? Who knew that the auto industry was so tied in together? The Dodge Brothers helped finance Ford. An executive left Ford and started buying up other car makers to form General Motors. The man brought in to add professional engineering left Ford to found Cadillac and then left there to found Lincoln, which Ford bought and brought this same man back to Ford. Such revelations will have you starting many conversations with, "Did you know . . .?"

Dr. Brinkley's work is not perfect, though. Not surprisingly, Henry Ford is the giant of the book and most ink is given to him. However, the 70's, 80's and 90's receive almost a summary treatment. Also, not enough time is given to the cultural shift to SUVs and how Ford moved from a car company that had a truck division to a truck maker that also happens to sell cars.

Most disappointingly, the book has too few pictures. Dr. Brinkley has strong descriptive powers that one wants to see the car or the plant or the person he is describing, but the pictures aren't there. If the Taurus is so important to Ford, especially in terms of styling, why not include a picture of the first model?

In the end, this book is a great read. One cheers for Ford when it triumphs and worries about it when it falters. Dr. Brinkley clearly loves Ford: the company, the cars and the men. His work is a labor of love.

David Brinkley's astounding history of Ford Motor Company is in many ways a history of US industrialism and the essential role it played in powering the "American Century." It can be endlessly argued whether Henry Ford was a brilliant visionary or just in the right place at the right time. But the fact remains that, more than any other individual, Ford turned the crank that started the machinery of mass production. Brinkley's masterfully-written history illustrates how Ford's farsighted approach to high wages and economies-of-scale sparked a self-sustaining explosion of economic growth, leaving America second to none in its productive capacity. Wheels For the World is far more than a book about cars; it's about economics, politics, labor relations, war, racism, corporate intrigue, executive ego, near bankruptcy, and eventual rebirth; it is about a people's faith in themselves and their ability to overcome all obstacles no matter how insurmountable they seem. In the end, Wheels For the World is as much about America as any single book you will ever read.

This was and excellent book, focusing on President Carter's life after his 1980 loss to Ronald Regan. The president allowed the author, who had complete access to President Carter's records, to interview him several times. Thus the author was able to gain tremendous insight into Carter's personality.

From his involvement in Habitat for Humanity to his efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, the author beautify weaves the character of Jimmy Carter with historical events. The book reads with the ease of fiction.

An enjoyable, contemporary history about a unique individual, it was a pleasure to read.

This book provides insight into the life of Jimmy Carter after his defeat to Reagan in 1980. Every chapter divulges new aspects of Carter's amazing post-presidential life. Brinkley has managed to present an accurate picture of Carter that does not gloss over or mock his faith. Well done!

To the below reviewer who wrote that "Carter has not done an intelligent thing since leaving office", I would say that you are entitled to your opinion but you obviously did not read this book. To make such an assertion needs factual backing. You can say that Carter failed as a civilian ambassador but you cannot deny that he and his Carter Center helped forge peace, eradicate numerous illnesses, free thousands of political prisoners, and inspire millions. That is a viscious, partisan attack and has no place in a review of this book. Interesting to note that outside of the US, world leaders and people would heartily disagree with any assessment of Carter that fails to acknowedge his monumental contributions to peace and human rights. I defy you, after reading this book, to list a single modern president who has done more than Jimmy Carter.

If you are even slighly interested the post-presidential career of Jimmy Carter, this book is a great work of art! I knew that President Carter was a hard working, great man; I just did not realize How Hard Working, Caring, and Diligent President Carter actually is. He is defintely a man that is a great role model for all people that are interested in running for a political office, or wish to live peacefully on planet earth. Mr Brinkley does a fabulous side of pulling us in to the Carters' world, educating us, and entertaining us. This is a GREAT book!

This is a reprint of the book originally issued before the 1976 presidential campaign, and after all these years, is a very painful reminder of the promise and then the failure of the Carter presidency. In office, Carter proved to be a petty, self-righteous little man who was overwhelmed by the presidency. He was not a leader- he was a bureaucrat. His failures as President caused economic turmoil and international loss of respect for the United States. The book should be read for its irony only.

This book is the campaign biography which helped elect Jimmy Carter in 1976. He takes the title from the question Adm. Rickhover asks of all naval cadets, 'in your life was there ever a time in which you did less than the best?' He would follow up the question with "Why not the best?" as a way to focus young men, including James Earl Carter, on striving for exellence. The book outlines in detail what Carter would later refer to as his "sources of strength." This book is a must read for those who feel Jimmy Carter is a model of public service, an outstanding peacemaker, and our best ex-president.

I am writing a review simply because the other person's review was so obnoxious and mean-spirited. Carter was the most honest and decent man we have ever had running the country, at least in my lifetime. And he is probably doing a lot more with his life right now than that reviewer ever will. Shame.

Almost History is based on a great premise, and I opened it expecting to smile a lot. A book like this should give its reader a sense of how spontaneous and alive history really is; I expected to realize that a bunch of seemingly inevitable events weren't really so ponderous, that the world of the past is fresh -- full of fallible people making the best choices they could.

The book didn't quite do that for me. It's readable, it includes a few gems, but it's just not that engaging. I didn't smile that often.

Partly this is just a collection of marginalia. Sure, it makes you raise your eyebrows to see Nixon thinking about a speech in case the astronauts die on the moon. When you consider it, though, any president probably would have prepared for the worst there. Whether he wrote the speech or not doesn't really get to the heart of the event -- it doesn't affect whether events happened. The book also includes the speech J.F.K. would have given on the day he was killed. That speech didn't affect whether he was shot. We can maybe hint at ways his future policies might have gone based on its text, but you know, that's hardly a lynchpin on which history turned one way or the other. (It was a fairly platitudinous speech about foreign policy through strength, by the way.)

In some cases the chosen tidbits don't really even fit the premise. For example, Teddy Roosevelt's speech after he was shot during a campaign appearance is included. That IS history, it happened. There's an excerpt about the use of Navajo language by the U.S. marines in World War II. That's interesting, but how does it fit this book? The marines DID that.

I guess what I'm saying is that this is a pleasant little browse, but it didn't hang together well enough to really grab me and get me staying up late.

If you want a book that's lively and fun and that really airs out your sense of American History, two fantastic titles by James Loewen will do the job: "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "Lies Across America." Loewen's basic approach is to contrast the bland, textbook history we all learned with real, live, primary sources about the same events. "Teacher" examines a bunch of high school history textbooks, and "Lies Across America" looks at those historical markers your Dad always stopped at. Loewen's books both made me smile and laugh out loud. I felt like reading them out loud to other people, you know? Almost History, even in its better moments, just isn't quite in their league.

One of the great games of history is the what-ifs: What if Lee had won at Gettysburg? What if Burgoyne had won at Saratoga? What if the New York City traffic accident that seriously injured Winston Churchill had killed him?

This book is a documentation of myriad such what-ifs. As such, it's a good but mixed bag. The best items are genuinely poignant or thought-provoking. These include the speech that William Safire wrote for Richard Nixon in case the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the moon, notes that Eisenhower wrote to himself in case the Normandy Invasion was a failure, and Ulysses S. Grant declining Lincoln's invitation to join him at Ford's Theater.

Less interesting ones tend to be sidelights, items that aren't all that interesting in themselves: Nixon's application to the FBI, an FBI memorandum on deporting John Lennon, and the speech Kennedy would have given in Dallas if he hadn't been shot.

A few are already famous items: Einstein's letter to President Roosevelt recommending the undertaking of research into the atomic bomb and Eleanor Roosevelt's letter resigning from the DAR after it refused to allow Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall.

Overall, though, it's an entertaining and thought-provoking collection, with the best section ("failed predictions") saved for last, in which the New York Times chides Robert Goddard for thinking that rockets can work in a vacuum, Scientific American (in 1909) believes the automobile is fully developed, and Popular Mechanics looks forward to the day when computers might weigh only a ton or so.

Lots of fun stuff: interesting reading and probably another good bathroom book since the sections are short.

Douglas Brinkley's American Heritage History of the United States has all the marks of one of those terrible textbooks we were force fed in High School and college. Glossy pictures, special topic sections, maps, history capsulated into eras, the book has all the appearance of something written by a committee. When you were a teen, the best thing about it was that lots of photos meant less text.

Thankfully, American Heritage History of the United States was not written by a committee. Mr. Brinkley's text has personality, even humor, and intelligence. It flows smoothly and retains the reader's interest. I learned more than I had known and probably even remember some of it, which is more than I can say for my High School textbooks.

Concerning the subject itself, it is almost impossible to be entirely objective when it comes to history, any history. It is much to Mr. Brinkley's credit that I was unable to determine his political background, a question that is usually, unfortunately, answered far too soon far too often. (There appears to be a fine line with history between analysis and polemics.) Mr. Brinkley does have opinions and does voice them, but he is ultimately more concerned with portraying the facts of the matter at hand, whatever the matter at hand may be. He reminds the reader, on a fairly generous basis, that problems arising in one president's term of office may have begun in a prior president's term of office if not further back or may have nothing to do with the presidential office at all.

Recommendation: It's big and it's heavy. The price isn't bad for a big, heavy hardcover filled with photographs, just make sure you have somewhere to put it.

Judging from previous reviews, apparently if you're a US history afficionado you should stay away from this book.

However, if like me you've always fallen asleep in history class, this is the book for you. Don't get me wrong; history is my hobby--WORLD history, that is. With US history, it seems I've had the great misfortune of having professors who loved to dwell on minutia. And since minutia is tremendously dreary when the student doesn't first have the overall picture, it is no wonder many of us find ourselves "otherwise engaged" in class.

I am an American adult who decided it was time to know more about our nation's past, and chose a one-volume work to get me started. I found Douglas Brinkley easy to read, in spite of the fact that his book is larger and weighs more than a small household pet. I've always deduced that because America is so much younger than old world countries, instructors have felt a need to compensate for its history's brevity by weighing it down with innumerable bits of information that are probably better left to the next course level. But I did not feel that way reading Brinkley. More than once, I found myself muttering "so that's what that was about...". The conversational writing style and supporting illustrations made for, if not exactly a page-turner, the closest thing a history book can get to that.

Although it is obvious from page one that the author has very strong beliefs, they are so blatant that I did not feel it was a hindrance--any reasonable adult will question whether the characters and events were truly as noble or ominous as the writer has painted them, and readers should certainly never make judgments based on one book alone anyway. This work is really just to have an overview of US history, and people can decide from there what they'd like to learn more about. To include all the details other reviewers felt should have been in this book would have made it the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Just one more thing--who the heck IS Emma Goldman????? ;-)

I've been out of school for "awhile" and decided recently to brush up on U.S. history. After poring over several alternatives in the bookstore, I chose this book to fill the bill...and it does! It provides a great overview and is superbly written. When I finish the book, I'll move on to more specialized works, but (for my current purposes) I can't recommend it highly enough. It is simply a treat to read!

I've been a huge Stephen Ambrose fan since reading his biography of Nixon years ago. This book dispays Ambrose's flair for research, and ability to make the past come alive. This time, however, rather than using his own prose to set the scene, he has compiled a collection of accounts from people who were there. It's not textbook history, and it doesn't always present events from an objective view, but it is nevertheless an effective and fascinating read.

I love the way he lets people who were present tell the story. It is very enlightening, not your normal text book history. It is a must read for anyone with an open mind.

This book is great for history and social studies teachers. The book is broken into small snipets of history that are the perfect length for one lesson. In a time when textbooks give only partial views on history slanted towards the views of the editors and publishers of the textbook, this is a refeshing use of primary source material. Ambrose and Brinkley let historic figures speak for themselves.

This book is a very entertaining read. I have done extensive research on the CIA, particularly regarding the Bay of Pigs, and this was one of the first books I read on the subject. HOWEVER, even though I assumed that what I had read in the book was highly accurate, as I read two and three other books on the same subjects I was looking for [The CIA's Secrete Operations, Spying For America, and others] I realized that the other books seemed to agree with each other, as well as with the official, recently declassified reports on the Bay of Pigs by Colonel Hawkins-who ran the Bay of Pigs operation- yet THIS BOOK CONSISTENTLY MISLEAD ITS READER, which confused the hell out of me, since this book had been the first one I had read on the subject. There remarks such as the following: "Some two thousand Cuban rebels land at the Bay of Pigs. They are hit immediatly by Castro's armed forces. A debacle is in the making." (pg.307, opening of chapter 22) this is just one example of misleading information. What actually happened was that the 1187 cuban-exiles that landed were actually split up into three separate groups miles away from each other, none of which where "hit" by Castro's forces for hours. They did encounter a roving militia of about 40 people who promply surrendured, and a CIA scuba team that was leaving beacons for the invasion boats to navigate to were forced to open fire on a small contingent of Cuban forces (the CIA forces eliminated them). This does not, however, suggest what is reported in the above quoted statement. Other examples proliferate across the book. just a warning that this book seems to want to tell a good story more than give an accurate account of what actually happened. If all you want is an entertaining read, then the book will probably still be fine, since the fact bending tended to be restricted to small, inconsequential details. I must say, however, that Ambrose sure does know how to write an entertaining book.

This book is very helpful in understanding the challenges of today's world. Intelligence is a vital requirement for three objectives: Knowing what your opponents are doing; deceiving your opponents about what you are doing; and using covert means to change or replace your opponents.

As Ambrose makes clear, Eisenhower was introduced to the world of intelligence by Winston Churchill and rapidly became fascinated with it. His chief intelligence officer Kenneth Strong, a British General, kept him remarkably informed throughout the Second World War. Ambrose argues, and he is almost certainly right, that only the combination of great intelligence about the Germans and the most successful deception plan in history made the invasion of France possible in 1944. He also notes that deception had also been brilliantly used in 1943 to convince the Germans that the allies were going to invade Sardinia or Greece rather than Sicily. The result was a reallocation of German forces to the wrong places, which weakened their forces in Sicily.

There are a lot of lessons in this book for our generation. Eisenhower valued technology and took risks to develop it. He knew how to undertake successful covert operations. For anyone who would understand the uses of intelligence in the modern world, this is a useful book.