American Nations
A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
Ratings11
Average rating4.5
15
A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
Ratings11
Average rating4.5
• A New Republic Best Book of the Year • The Globalist Top Books of the Year • Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Non-fiction • Particularly relevant in understanding who voted for who in this presidential election year, this is an endlessly fascinating look at American regionalism and the eleven “nations” that continue to shape North America According to award-winning journalist and historian Colin Woodard, North America is made up of eleven distinct nations, each with its own unique historical roots. In American Nations he takes readers on a journey through the history of our fractured continent, offering a revolutionary and revelatory take on American identity, and how the conflicts between them have shaped our past and continue to mold our future. From the Deep South to the Far West, to Yankeedom to El Norte, Woodard (author of American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good) reveals how each region continues to uphold its distinguishing ideals and identities today, with results that can be seen in the composition of the U.S. Congress or on the county-by-county election maps of any hotly contested election in our history.
Reviews with the most likes.
A lot of fascinating insights into our cultural heritage. I've recommended this book to at least five other people already. This definitely explains a lot of the cultural divide and political debates still going on today.
This book covers American history from the 1500s up through 2010. I learned there were multiple parts to the American Revolution, and additional wars that were being fought in the US territories.
Really insightful book tracing the history of the American ‘nations' as defined by the author (New England, New Netherlands, Tidewater, Midlands, Appalachia, Deep South, New France, El Norte, First Nation, alongside the younger Far West and Left Coast). The book does a good job describing each group's history from its origins to today, not dwelling too much on any historical episode, but rather discussing the evolution of each nation and their interplay.
I felt that this book was particularly illuminating while discussing how each nation within each ‘bloc' (e.g., Dixie) responded to different circumstances based on their distinctive characteristics (e.g., although Appalachia nowadays mostly sides with the Deep South / Tidewater, it mostly fought on the Union side in the Civil War). The book also is very strong at conveying how different and truly separate each nation was / is, and hence, how fragile the Union truly is in the historical view. The epilogue written after Covid paints a grim picture for the future by mentioning another multi-national union that ultimately was not able to keep its nations together (Yugoslavia).
