''A History of US'' is a ten-volume (and one sourcebook) historical book series for children, written by Joy Hakim and first published in its entirety in 1995. The series is published by the US branch of

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and is currently in its third edition. Originally conceived as a trade children's series, the books quickly found fans among classroom teachers; in response to the prompting of educators Oxford University Press developed ancillary teaching materials to accompany the series. Branded as 'alternatives to traditional textbooks' the series is regularly used in both public and private schools, usually in

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

classes. The books are all written in a personal tone, as if the author were a storyteller. The texts have been released to ample praise by teachers, home-schoolers, students, and many others. The series has won the James A. Michener Award in Writing and the Parent's Choice Gold Award.

Content

The books are titled: #''The First Americans: Prehistory–1600'' #''Making Thirteen Colonies: 1600–1740'' #''From Colonies to Country: 1735–1791'' #''The New Nation: 1789–1850'' #''Liberty for All? 1820–1860'' #''War, Terrible War: 1855–1865'' #''Reconstructing America: 1865–1890'' #''An Age of Extremes: 1880–1917'' #''War, Peace, And All That Jazz: 1918–1945'' #''All the People: Since 1945'' The eleventh volume is a sourcebook and index, containing full text of the primary sources—usually government documents, speeches, or famous writings—referenced throughout the series and words.

Reception

The series won the James A. Michener Award in Writing from the National Council of the Social Studies in 1997 and the Parents' Choice Gold Award in 1995 for a Reference book for ages 9–12. The series has sold millions of copies and was accepted as a textbook in several U.S. states.

David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United S ...

, a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning author of history books, praised ''A History of US'' before a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing in 2005. Although it has received positive reviews from most people, some conservative critics have alleged that the works are politically-biased. A series of reviews in 2000–2001 in ''The Textbook Letter'', a publication of the Textbook League, criticized various aspects of the first two books of ''A History of US''. In a review of volume 2, ''Making Thirteen Colonies: 1600–1740'', Alice Whealey noted many claims regarding the

history of Western civilization History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

as erroneous, focusing on

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

Moorish Spain Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, and Abrahamic religious stories presented as fact. Also regarding volume 2, Earl Hautala wrote that Hakim's inclusion of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

stories of

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

and

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

is unjustified and incorrect from both a Biblical and a non-Biblical perspective. William J. Bennetta argued that volume 1, ''The First Americans: Prehistory–1600'', presented a politicized

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

view of early history. A Portland Oregon parent brought serious concerns to her school district regarding the dehumanizing portrayal of slaves and the minimization of the suffering of Indigenous peoples during the chapters covering

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

Adaptation

A television miniseries titled ''Freedom: A History of US'' was aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in 2003.

Voice cast

Hosted by

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. Since 2016, she ha ...

. the series featured an ensemble voice cast playing multiple historical and fictional characters throughout the show's run. The cast included:

References

External links

Joy Hakim's official website''A History of US'' series page
from the Oxford University Press
Discussion with Hakim and middle school students on ''A History of Us'', March 24, 1999''Booknotes'' interview with Hakim on ''Freedom: A History of US'', February 23, 2003.Presentation by Hakim to the National Council for the Social Studies on ''Freedom: A History of US'', November 22, 2002Freedom: A History of US
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of US, A Book series introduced in 1995 1995 non-fiction books 20th-century history books 1995 children's books History books about the United States Series of children's books Children's history books about the United States Series of history books American children's books Oxford University Press books