Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book is a masterpiece. Writing a short history of the US is a terrific challenge; knowing what to include and what to leave out is a tough decision. McClay has done a wonderful job with this. For those not yet knowledgeable about our national history, this book is a perfect introduction or survey. I can't think of anything important that he missed. For those already well read, the book serves to pull everything together and calls up a host of associations. So many US histories focus excessively on the negatives in the past and are often poorly written; they are nihilistic in service to a utopian vision of perfectibility which sees the past only as a record of mistakes and failings. But excessive negativism is naïve. Our history includes not only serious failings, but many great accomplishments to be proud of. Land Of Hope covers them all judiciously and sensibly. The book is beautifully written and compulsively readable. Highly recommended.