A History of US: Eleven-Volume Set (A ^AHistory of US)

Although we have only read through half of book 1, it's a well written description of historical events that has made it easier to explain bits of history to my homeschooler that was not sugar coated or stretched version of the truth. I recommend it to everyone interested in history, not just homeschooling families.**Picture to show the titles and book numbers of the set. When I received my large book order, I only received book 8. A replacement was issued after some explaining that I was missing 10 other books. Reps were a bit confused of the number of pages description and had to read some reviews before agreeing $100+ is way to expensive for an 11 page book, but I do see how that description is a bit misleading for someone that needs to quickly resolve a concern over the phone.

I chose this series because several years ago I attended a public lecture by James Loewen ("Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong"). After his harsh analysis of American history textbooks, someone asked him if there were ANY textbook he liked.Loewen responded that he really liked "The History of US" by Joy Hakim. He pointed out that it was written for 12 year-olds, but at the same time contained a great deal of factual information not found in even college texts. In addition, it contained original sources, and photos and images which are frequently not found in the advanced books.My 13 year old daughter, who is NOT a history fan, has read several of the series already. She found the images especially appealing, being moved by the "before-and-after photos" of a group of Commanche boys after a year at a boarding school, confiding in me quietly "Daddy, I like them better as Indians".The series does not sugar-coat our history, and no doubt infuriates many who like the traditional views of history. At the same time, it does not try to tear down our heroes, but rather tries to address behaviors in an historical perspective, although criticism will appear. The series comes with a more extensive collection of primary sources than any AP/college textbook, and the division into different eras makes the stories more comprehensible. Finally, that last point is key: Joy Hakim took the old narrative style of old textbooks and integrated it with a more balanced approach to American history. The books truly are a history of us.

My daughter is in 7th grade and we have used several other curriculums previously but couldn't find a good one for US history that would work for middle school. All the other texts were geared for high school since many middle schoolers do world history. We had been using Mystery of History and loved it but the author isn't publishing her US history yet so we were at a loss what to buy. After 2 months of struggling, we gave History of US a try paired with the sonlight teacher and student workbooks. My daughter loves it. The best part is that it is written like a story of history instead of boring dates and facts she can't connect with. The little-know-facts and such she can't wait to stump people with. Without the sonlight workbooks, Hakim's facts are a little off but sonlight does a good job of pointing those out and giving background. Since there are 11 books, we are dividing it into 2 years (7th and 8th). I really think we found a winner!

I bought this series of books because I wanted to learn more about American history as well as the manner in which it is taught at an elementary/secondary school level. As I am a naturalized US citizen, acquiring such a perspective would be of service to me in many respects. As a university professor, also, I purposely wished to avoid a history book written at an academically highly accomplished level. I chose the Hakim series because it was favorably reviewed on the basis of its narrative approach, while most of the negative comments were written from a conservative viewpoint that condemned the book's alleged liberal bias. The latter reviews I therefore dismissed as themselves biased. Bias is problematic irrespective of its direction.Clearly, the value of reviews in deciding to buy a book is limited. In my opinion, Hakim's series of history books have to be described as grotesque. Not being an expert in history, I cannot comment on the validity of the statements made in these books. However, I can remark that the manner in which Hakim approaches the subject matter is not so much biased as thoroughly objectionable. The general tone and implied objectives of the books reminds me of the worst of my days spent in graduate school in the 1990s, especially its misguided culture of political correctness as well as its unwarranted and ultimately dangerous relativism. The background to writing these books may very well have been a justified indignation with conventional history books that declare the USA at all times to be wonderful, but the ridiculous response by Hakim has been to argue for the exact opposite. The fact that Hakim felt the need to expressly write, in the opening of the series, that she believes the United States to be "the most remarkable nation that has ever existed" is nothing but a pathetic attempt at intellectual blackmail. For reading these books, one notices a tremendous pleasure Hakim seems to derive from writing anything that is wrong and immoral in American history. As readers we would be forced to chose between books that might relegate slavery to an embarrassing footnote, on the one hand, or to share in Hakim's joy to write about slavery at every opportunity that presents itself, on the other.By means of illustration, I can mention a few specific aspects of the books that struck me the most. In the first volume, Hakim describes elements of the discovery of the American continent as "unfortunately" having "something to do with European arrogance." The word 'arrogance' Hakim explains to be a "strong word," adding that it is "too bad to have to describe Europe as arrogant" but that it "just happens" to be "true." In sum, Hakim condemns, in the most absolute terms, the entire continent of Europe and its people in order to put a relativist spin on developments in the American continent. Elsewhere, she seeks to debunk the idea that America could be considered the first or only civilization by writing that there are and were other civilizations elsewhere, going on to describe, by example, the Egyptian civilization as "spectacular" because the Egyptians had "people who could also read and write,... had built big cities,... and they kept slaves." The keeping of slaves in Egypt, in other words, is presented by Hakim as an element of its civilization. Lest anybody would get concerned about that, fear not, because, Hakim informs us, "many people in those days" also kept slaves. Upon reading this particular dribble, I decided to return the books to Amazon. I give the books two stars rather than one because they do not deserve that form of respect.The most fundamental problem about Hakim's books, other than the author's misguided conceptions about writing history, is that they fail to acknowledge the ongoing nature of the process of the American experiment in self-government to form a more perfect union. These books thus even miss the mark in addressing the proper theme of discussion. They therefore also fail to guide us living today in dealing with, and being heirs to, our history, let alone to build towards a more perfect future.