A Basic History of the United States, Vol. 4

The Growth of America, 1878-1928

By: Clarence B. Carson

Narrated by: Mary Woods

Carson's full-scale treatment of American history combines scholarly exactness with evocative passages that lead the listener to a clearer understanding of the people and events, the triumphs and the shortcomings, which have shaped this nation.

Starting with the "filling out" of the West, this fourth volume goes beyond the standard historical facts and events of these formative 50 years of American history. Included are crisp and incisive discussions of Darwinism and Socialism and their effects upon American society. Also covered are civil service reform; regulation and the courts; the rise of labor unions; the Spanish-American War; the Panama Canal; World War I; Bolshevism and the spread of Totalitarianism; Nazism in Germany; monetarism and prosperity; and the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, and Coolidge.

Don't miss the rest of the titles in the A Basic History of the United States series:

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 6

©1985 American Textbook Committee (P)1993 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Well researched

Very well written. I have enjoyed a number of Mr Carson's books. I look forward to many more.

Reader, beware

This gets a mixed review from me. The reader is really very good, and the basic content seems solid. I was relatively unfamiliar with the period discussed and must say that I learned a lot. But beware: C. Carson has a libertarian agenda, never stated, but clearly evident in the tone of the writing and the evaluations of the various characters. If you are a laissez-faire advocate you will love this. His treatment of the activism of workers and unions is particularly galling. Anything remotely smelling of social activism is given a cold shoulder. One gets the feeling that he even objects to child labor legislation. I enjoyed much more his volume 2 and 3 since these had much less of this agenda. I hesitate to embark on vol 5 as FDR looms! And then there is Reagan to please him, I assume. I am pretty apolitical, but the heartless, uncompassionate (apparently)attitude displayed at times was very irritating to me.