“Susan-Mary Grant's vigorous new history of the United States is the ideal text for our troubled times. A fast-paced account of the martial roots of American national identity, it fairly bristles with insight, information, and indignation. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the making of today's uneasy superpower.” – Robert Cook, Professor of American History, ... Read moreUniversity of Sussex “In this elegantly written, immensely readable and fresh distillation of American history, Susan-Mary Grant brings a keen eye to bear on the processes that created and have since sustained the United States’ sense of nationhood. Notably, she shows how war and conflict, from colonial times to the present, have shaped and redefined American identity, and how – despite the gap between civic ideals and reality – national ligaments have remained remarkably strong. A Concise History of the United States provides the general reader with a superb introduction to the American past, while the author’s authoritative but lightly-worn scholarship offers much to reward the specialist, too.” – Professor Richard Carwardine, President, Corpus Christi College, Oxford "Recommended." -Choice Show Less