AMERICA AND THE JACKSONIAN ERA: 1825-1850

Like other titles in this series, Boardman's newest entry is comprehensive, concise and rather overwhelming. The wide-angle view includes all aspects of society from medical practice and the theater to the Donner Party, and our guess is that the text will be most useful to those who need a quick, factual outline and the thumbnail biographies and statistics--on railroad building, agricultural production, immigration--which are admirably well organized. Those seeking answers to larger questions may be less well served: interpretation tends to be scanty (a single paragraph on the impact of abolitionism); the treatment of such high-interest subjects as Indian removal tends to be mechanical. For back-up coverage and quick reference.