The Shortest History of the United States of America

A compelling history of the world's most powerful country from acclaimed author Don Watson.

The Shortest History of the United States of America is the extraordinary story of the United States, a nation that contains multitudes.

When Britain's thirteen American colonies declared their independence on 4 July 1776, the United States of America was born. But it was hardly united. In this superbly written book, Don Watson traces how the central conflicts of the US—those over freedom, race, frontiers, enterprise, religion, and violence—play out through its history. A country at war with itself in the 1860s, the leader of the free world less than a hundred years later, and a nation beset by wild division and turmoil in the twenty-first century.

This is a book full of character and humour, told with great learning and insight—a perfect introduction to America, past and present.