A review by eely225
A People and a Nation. Volume II, Since 1865 by David W. Blight

4.0

A surprisingly readable overview of recent American history. The text manages to track multiple threads of how historical forces affected marginalized groups without ignoring the overall sequence of events. It identified many telling details that were new to me and instructive of the mindsets of the period (i.e. Did you know that President Grant tried to *buy* the Dominican Republic? And he almost got away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling representative democracy serving as a check on corruption).

While it still reads like a textbook with its biases baked in, there's more diversity of opinion to be found here than usual. It's also much more readable and engaging than many titles in this vein.