HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Kushnir leads readers on an idiosyncratic journey through United States history in this nonfiction work.

The author pursues a generally chronological path through the past 300 years of American history, from the colonial era up to the age of Labubus, but the path is a meandering one, following thematic links from one topic to the next. In its many short chapters, the book covers such varied topics as the growth of bourbon culture, the Great Awakenings that repeatedly stoked new religious enthusiasm, the wonders of the Sears catalog in the days of mail-order shopping, Hollywood, burlesque, fashion, and the internet. Kushnir often points out “wow effects,” the particularly dramatic inflection points of history. Each subject receives a short essay (usually a single paragraph) providing details; the discussions are rarely comprehensive. Some items of interest—particularly women’s attire and bodies, and use and production of drugs—make repeated appearances throughout the pages, to a degree that may feel excessive. The text includes no citations or bibliography, and does not engage with primary or secondary sources, making it more appropriate for those already familiar with the topics covered than for readers looking for a basic introduction to U.S. history, particularly as events and trends from the past century take up a disproportionate amount of the work. At times, Kushnir’s approach is reminiscent of Eduardo Galeano’s histories of Latin America, but the writing here is less poetic and the topics are more freewheeling. The prose is solid and highly readable, and the author develops his arguments in jargon-free and accessible language (“In the darkest times, America found light not in politics or economics, but in the projectors of movie theaters”). With its unique organization and light-on-information approach, the book is most likely to find traction as a gift for the open-minded history buff who has read (almost) everything.

An engaging if not particularly rigorous survey of American history.