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ASIN 0195077474
A History of US: Book 2: Making Thirteen Colonies (A History of US, 2) First EditionUPC 9780195077476
Editorial ReviewsFrom Booklist
Gr. 4-8. The second volume in the History of US series recounts the settling of the original colonies, from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the opening of the Wilderness Road in 1775, which allowed settlers to traverse the Appalachian range and reach the interior of the continent. Hakim writes like a storyteller, relating seventeenth-century experiences to current events and drawing analogies that make the seventeenth-century happenings intelligible. The book is laid out in a way that dispels any notion that it is a textbook: virtually every page has an illustration; sidebars give anecdotal or supplementary information; and the typeface is a respectable size. Hakim deals with the colonies one at a time, documenting their founding, their type of government, and the principal occupations of the settlers before and after they came to the New World. She sometimes urges readers to insert themselves into a situation in order to better understand the experience. Having an author question or address the reader is frequently annoying, but Hakim's comments work. Black-and-white illustrations include photographs of vintage paintings and documents, maps, line drawings, and decorative elements. Time line; bibliography. Sheilamae O'Hara
From Kirkus Reviews
The second in Hakim's projected ten-volume ``A History of US'' (also available: The First Americans, ISBN 0-19-507745-8). The tone is notably informal, even jocular, but not at the expense of content. Focusing here on Jamestown, the New England Puritans, and the other European colonists, the author brings a formidable amount of illuminating detail to a lively narrative, makes valuable connections between past and present, introduces important concepts in their original context, shares a contagious enthusiasm for history's pivotal ideas, colorful characters, and their stories, distinguishes between documented fact and conjecture, and reiterates such thoughts as that--among imported ideas, as well as both settlers and Indians--``Some are good, some are not so good,'' with examples to prove it. Her careful depiction of the Native American point of view is remarkably evenhanded. The breezy style occasionally leads to imprecision (``the Pope...didn't approve of all that marrying. So King Henry founded the Church of England''), but generally the text is lucid, accurate, and extraordinarily immediate; questions addressed to the reader are genuinely stimulating and provocative. Sidebars and captions amplify the main text; the many period illustrations are often crisply reproduced, but sometimes reduced beyond clarity (the flimsy see-through paper doesn't help). In every sense, a fresh look at our history; Hakim's perceptive eye, no-nonsense approach, and wit are all welcome. Chronology; ``More Books to Read'' (from an Aliki biography to Miller's The Crucible); index. (Nonfiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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