American Nation : A History Of The United States, Volume 1 (custom Package) - 11th edition

Summary: Long-positioned and long-respected as a bestseller for the U.S. history survey course that focuses on political history as its framework, this textbook's most significant strength is its rich and distinctive prose. For this Eleventh Edition, co-authors Mark Carnes of Barnard College at Columbia University and John Garraty have collaborated to retell the story of America's past.

For the Eleventh Edition, the authors have written a new prologue on pre-Columb ...show moreian America and the continent"s earliest human inhabitants, revised each chapter to incorporate recent research and scholarship, integrated more social and cultural history, selected many new illustrations and written informative new captions to engage students visually, introduced two new features, and updated the final chapter (33) to carry the story through the election of 2000, the beginnings of the Bush administration, and the events and aftermath of September 11, 2001, which have profoundly changed the American nation and its people.

Features :

• Incomparable narrative style. A consistent, unified tone reflects an even-handed treatment of topics.
• Political history focus. A political emphasis sets the framework for examination of the nation"s history"its political evolution as well as its economic, social, and cultural development.
• American Lives biographical essays. Descriptions of the dramatic incidents in the lives of selected subjects -- some famous and some lesser known -- are provided. New to the Eleventh Edition is an American Lives essay on Eunice Williams/Gannenstenkawi (Chapter 3), a white captive of the Indians who eventually decided to remain with her captors. Ten American Lives feature essays appear throughout the text.

• Prologue ("Beginnings"). This new introduction to the narrative describes the first peopling of the American continent and the growth and development of Native American communities long before the arrival of European explorers and settlers.
• Mapping the Past. Using unique and unusual thematic maps, "Mapping the Past" examines issues and influences that have shaped the American nation and society. Most of the maps explore some aspect of social history"for example, "The Making of a Working Class" (Chapter 8), "Fertility on the Frontier" (Chapter 10), "The Dust Bowl, 1934" (Chapter 26) and "America"s Hispanics" (Chapter 33). Accompanying text carefully describes the information conveyed in the maps, helping students not only to understand the particular map at hand but also to apply map-reading skills to all maps. Seventeen Mapping the Past feature essays appear throughout the text.
• Reviewing the Past. This new feature examines recent feature films that dealt with an aspect of American history, and discusses how the films relate to, reflect, or distort the reality of the era and the events they portray. Seven "Reviewing the Past" feature essays appear throughout the text; among the films discussed are The Patriot (Chapter 4), Titanic (Chapter 20), and Saving Private Ryan (Chapter 28).
• New American Lives essay on Eunice Williams (Chapter 3). Captured by Indians when she was seven years old and then adopted into a Mohawk family, Williams chose to remain with her adoptive family, taking the name Gannenstenhawi ("she who brings corn").