This wonderful book traces the history of the classic conflict between the pursuit of "the simple life" and the lure of materialism in America. Shi capsules in 281 pages four hundred years of individual and group struggles for a life of meaning in American society. If you have any interest in searching for the roots of our 21st Century quest for voluntary simplicity, this book will give you a glance at the Greek sources and take you insightfully through life in America from the Puritans, Emerson, Thoreau, Wendell Berry and Jimmy Carter to 1984. This historian, David Emory Shi, must be one of the best in America. His gift of writing is now my favorite treasure in books on voluntary simplicity.

The Simple Life: Plain Living And High Thinking In American Culture by David E. Shi (President and Professor of History, Furman University) is a candid, informative, scholarly examination throughout American social history of the drive to simplify one's life and find meaning by the means of deliberately giving up excess material vanity, as embodied in the writings and lifestyles of Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Jimmy Carter, and others. Individual chapters discuss the simple life concept from the Puritan, Quaker, Republican, and other points of view, and the importance and value this way of thought, behavior, and culture retained even in today's increasingly fast-paced electronic world. A thoughtful book, filled with carefully assessed observations, The Simple Life is strongly recommended reading for anyone contemplating simplification of their personal lifestyles and circumstances as a means of improving the quality of their lives and themselves.

This is the best book I have ever read on simple living. The writer not only knows his history, but he can write. I especially liked the chapter on Emersonian views of simple living.

Richard J. Lorenz

This is a superb rehash of history, well-written and thorough and very accessible. Was disappointed that it is slanted, as traditionally so as ever. It is literally `his-story.' Women are big zeroes. In fact, Tindall quotes some New Englander as saying something like `i'd rather be born anything than a woman.' Would be nice if historians acknowledged the importance women's roles... ah well.

I have read my copy of Tindall & Shi three times in the last four years. This is a general history of the United States from slime to present. Modern textbooks have too many pictures, sidebars, and other distractions. This book is free of that problem. If not for the authors' admission in the preface that they wrote it as a textbook, you would never know that it was a textbook! This book is super-duper readable.

The author leads the reader from the birth of realism in the US in art, literature, history, etc. Although some of his points seem obvious once you read them, they are simply not matters that are taught in standard art history or other classes. I thought that this was truly a brilliant book. I shared many parts with my partner, etc.

An excellent book to use for study of this time. Very helpful because of it's primary source documents.

I was dissappointed with the book. There's no in depth discussion on any event. It just reads on and states facts like those in High School text books. Didn't capture me at all.

A huge book that traces the history of America from pre-Columbus through present day. Although considered by many to be a "text book" for study, it is not written in that format. It reads easily and clearly. It is non-biased and informative. The pictures are helpful. It's the first book on American history that I have been able to finish. Although expensive, I think that every book collection should have a copy and it is an essential part of any history collection.

My AP US History class used this book as its textbook. Statistics speak for themselves: anyone who read and studied the book got a 5! It is one of the most comprehensive texts in American history ever published. George Tindall, the primary author, is a wonderful and knowledgable man who I have met in Chapel Hill,NC. An excellent buy!

This book is supposed to follow the timeline of American History (Pre-Civil War)... however, in an effort to have the reader draw parallels within these times, the author skips back and forth through time, often in long tangents. Not the worst book ever, but definitely not the best!

I have found this book a very helpful guide of US History providing many details and points of view to make many issues more comprehesible and objective/