The Lockean moment Book

As a single, one-volume history of the United States, from it's colonial foundations in the 17th century up-through the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, I don't think there's a better book of it's kind (Lepore mayb?). Jones has an encyclopedic knowledge of American history, covering everything from demography, cultural innovations, economic transformations, history of American ideas, congressional disputes, environmental degradation, and foreign diplomacy.

Given it's breadth, the information can be overwhelming at certain points; all of the reams of information being thrown at you one paragraph at a time. Jones is an ardent practitioner of history as particularities -- or all detail, specificity, and difference without causality. Essentially, history as "one-damn-thing" after another. If you're able to handle all of that truckload of information, you'll really enjoy this book. However, having been written in the early 80s, many of Maldwyn's judgements don't hold up to contemporary scholarship (eg. his belief that slavery's impact on early 19th century American capitalist development and industrialization was relatively negligible). So be wary with some of those arguments, and always supplement this book's major claims with other -- newer -- sources.

If you know very little about American history I think this book, if read along side Howard Zinn's A People's History of the U.S, would give you the best overall picture of the country's historical development from as many possible angles.