Historian David Oshinsky, Professor of History at Rutgers University, does a masterful job in chronicling the life and times of one the most controversial political figures in our history. Oshinsky, an excellent story teller, allows the narrative to unfold in an unforced way, combining breazy prose with an excellent command of facts, thus allowing the drama of the McCarthy era to unwind naturally. Unlike most chroniclers of the early cold war -- and in particular, McCarthy biographers -- Oshinsky takes the time to examine McCarthy's childhood and rise to prominense with an unbiased eye. He notes that McCarthy was an excellent student, finishing four years in high school in one year; an industrious and indefatigable worker, helping his parents tend to the family farm while also starting his own poultry business; and a caring and warm person, liked by the town folk and respected by community leaders. McCarthy, however, also had competitive streak -- a win at anything cost mentality -- according to the author. In a given environment, such as campus politics, he was often daring, brutal and unforgiving -- completely focused on the task at hand. Oshinsky recites the story where McCarthy, in his final year of college, ran for class president. Prior to election day, McCarthy and his opponent agreed to vote for the other fellow, thus keeping the election friendly. McCarthy, however, after learning the election was a dead heat, changed his vote, telling his opponent that "the best man should win." Oshinsky notes that McCarthy could be both ruthless and caring; one moment, stealing an election, and the next, caring for a needy friend. This trait, writes Oshinsky, would run like an ubroken line throughout McCarthy's career. Oshinsky does an excellent job in chronicling McCarthy's rise to power -- his defeat of Judge Ed Warner for Circuit Court Judge, and then the defeat of "Fighting" Bob Lafolliate, United States Senator, in 1946. At the Age of 39, McCarthy was the youngest member of the United States Sen

As with anything David Oshinsky writes, this book is well written, informative, and striking in its accurate portrayal of race relations in the post Civil War south. Oshinsky is a masterful storyteller, and has woven a beautiful narrative from some of the most horrid abuses ever chronicled in this country. This book should be standard reading for all college level history students. This stands with Oshinsky's masterpiece -- A Conspiracy So Immense -- as the informative book of that genre. And congratulations to Jesse the Body Ventura.

David M. Oshinsky's "Worse than Slavery": Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice, tells yet another piece of recent, uncomfortable American history which must not be forgotten. Mississippi, like other southern states after the Civil War, did not deal well with freed blacks, and developed the system of "Jim Crow justice" which, in many respects, replicated slavery. Initially, the state leased prisoners -- usually blacks -- to private individuals, usually to pick cotton and do other heavy labor. As Oshinsky presciently concludes, this resulted in a more onerous existence for the black contract workers than when they were slaves. Owners, at least, had a vested interest in keeping their slaves fed and clothed, as they represented a substantial investment of capital. Persons leasing convict labor had no such capital investment, and, as a result, had no incentive (other than humanitarian, which, Oshhinsky notes, usually begged the question in white southern minds as to whether blacks were "human" at all) to keep workers from starving or working to death. The system of convict labor, considered "enlightened" by many at the time - and a great source of profit for the State - was an exercise in barbarism.

Parchman Farm, a huge cotton plantation in the Mississippi delta, represented an improvement, in that Mississippi itself owned and operated the farm and tended to feed and house the convicts. The system, however, was far from just, in that prisoners were armed and chosen to guard their fellow inmates, profit was a main goal and justification of the system, and no effort was made to rehabilitate the inmates. Only in the last quarter of this century was Parchman reformed through a series of federal court orders defining the situation as "cruel and unusual punishment."

Oshinsky writes extremely well, and both his research and insight are impressive. If one wants an example of how Reconstruction did not work, and the lives of rural southern blacks up through the civil rights victories of the last few decades, I recommend this book highly.

Most of us associate the word slavery with the antebellumSouth. David M. Oshinsky brilliantly chronicles the aftermath of theCivil War in the heart of Dixie and exposes the ensuing camouflaged forms of slavery, "prison labor" and "convict leasing", that thrived for generations. Not only does the author recount the inconceivable conditions suffered by prisoners of Parchman Farm, but also reconciles the social, political, and legal environments that fabricated these new "forms" of slavery. The South's steadfast resistance to change, coupled with its dependence upon slave labor, produced a justice system designed to swiftly convict blacks of misdemeanor crimes while blatantly ignoring whites for similar charges. The imprisonment of blacks during the reconstruction era through the late 1950's, provided cheap labor for state and local governments, which subsequently assimilated their sweat and blood into the economy. Due to the lack of singular ownership of the condemned, black prisoners frequently died in the fields, the forests, and the mines, and endured inhumane treatment "worse than slavery". This incredible book delves well beyond the pastures of Parchman Farm, unearthing a disgraceful portrait of the South and revealing the deliberate reluctance of the North to enforce the change sacrificed for in the Civil War.

Students and history buffs need a good, comprehensive volume on the significant people, events, movements and changes in the United States over the course of its history. This volume, from the leading publisher of reference books in the English language, fails and disappoints with regard to these goals. This Oxford Companion tries to be the United States History of Everything, as a result it misses key aspects of political history and what it does cover is often inadequate and incomplete.

The Companion tries to cover too many aspects of cultural history and its icons. As a result it sacrifices information on many important political and public figures. We get biographies of Michael Jordan and Marilyn Monroe but no separate bios of George Mason, William Borah, Hiram Johnson, Henry Cabot Lodge, Tom Watson, Joseph Cannon, Thomas Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller, Clarence Darrow, Sam Rayburn, Jesse Jackson -- and the list goes on and on. When they are covered it is often in snipets in subject area articles, which does not give a complete overview of their public careers.

What it does cover in cultural and intellectual history is often incomplete. The Companion has separate artices on the history of the blues, jazz and a weak article on rural country and folk music, but absolutely nothing on bluegrass or commercial country music and its pioneers. The index doesn't even mention the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe or Hank Williams. Yet country music far exceeds both the blues and jazz in popularity in terms of its fan base and are certainly deserving popular art forms for inclusion.

The selection of significant figures for separate biographies is often strange and arbitrary. The Companion offers a bio of physicist Eugene Wigner but not of Hans Bethe or Richard Feynman, like Wigner both Nobel Prize winners. Feynman is considered by many to be the most important theoretical physicist of the second half of the 20th century. This arbitrariness in selecting subjects for biographies can be repeated in many different subject areas.

The Companion contains 26 black and white maps, often of poor resolution, and follows the same arbitrary editing in terms of subject matter. You get a map of the properties of U.S. Steel, but no map on how the United States looked at the end of the Revolution or after the Louisiana Purchase, though there is a barely readable map of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. No reference tables and charts are included to tell the reader Presidential election results, who were the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, or who occupied important positions in Congress or the military over the course of American history.

On the positive side there are many good articles here on political and social history. However the reader must use this book carefully and supplement it with other Oxford Companions and reference books. At $... I would examine this book in a library before considering a purchase.

This volume contains entries that deal with concepts, events, persons, and movements in u.s. history. The length of the entries is appropriate to the topic considered. In addition, the entires both inform the reader with up-to-date information and indicate how revisionist historians have resahped opionions or refocused the discipline. The entries are clearly written and eminently readable. They are persuasive in thier opionions, yet respectful of other stances. The cross references are helpful and ample. The same obtains for the bibliographies. The Oxford Companion to U.S. History far surpasses some other contemporary dictionaries in U.S. history. Its articles are treated in more depth and greater nuances. The entries in the other dictionaries are too short and far too superficial. I would highly recommend this for people involved in serious historical study and research. The price, especially the discounted one offered by amazon.com, is well worth the investment for scholars,libraries, and families.

This book is a must have for anyone with an interest in American History. It gives a clear, concise explanation on most important aspects of the United States history and the history of the lands that would eventually become the United States. The most unique aspect of this book is that, unlike a school textbook, it explains a topics role throughout the history of the United States in on section. In other words, if you looked up Civil Rights, you would find a history of Civil Rights in America from the colonial period to present. All the background information you would need would be in one place, not scattered throughout the book. This is beneficial for teachers who need to quickly find some basic information to answer a student's question, or for a student who needs to quickly brush up on a topic. This is a work that I will definetly use for years to come.

American Passages was the textbook used for one of my American History courses. As my instructor said, it was a much tougher book than the previous one that had been used for the course, and I can understand why. The chapters are very long, sometimes inordinately so, and even though I was interested in the material and a good reader, they often took an hour or more to read through. However, the material _was_ interesting, the pictures, maps, graphs, and additional information well done, and it was well written. It does not go into full coverage of some topics, but I found it to be well-rounded, exploring many of the diverse issues that influenced our history and culture. It's an awe-inspiring journey to look through the past of our nation and see how it has impacted the present!

The book covers history from pre-Columbian days all the way through Clinton's presidency and the various scandals. Not many books can claim to be that current! Certainly a beautiful addition to any collection, and a wonderful resource for anyone interested in American History - just don't wait 'til the last minute if you're reading it for school!

If you are looking for a text to supplement your AP History classes, this book has lots of good material, and many helpful readings. If you combine this with some history readers, you will have a great basis to get your program off to a positive start.