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School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-- These three titles present arguments from both sides of historical issues and events that have helped shape our nation. Readers are provided with background on the subjects in the introductions. Chapter prefaces and sidebars provide further information. Excerpts from speeches, articles, and books representing the opposing viewpoints are placed side by side. Biographical sketches on the author(s) and the origin of the piece precede each entry. The voices range from scholars, government officials, and military figures to common colonists and slaves. The topics in American Revolution include disputes between England and the colonies, debates over independence, the re-forming of the United States, and the meaning of the war. Cold War discusses its origins, the degree of recommended U. S. involvement, coexistence and conflict, and its culmination. Issues examined in Slavery are its establishment in early America, living conditions for those in bondage, resistance and rebellion, abolitionism, and what the government's role should have been regarding slavery. All of the volumes have extensive, annotated bibliographies and helpful, detailed indexes. --Amy Baumann, Berne Knox Westerlo High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 10-12. This new American History series is for an older audience than that for which most of the Opposing Viewpoints collections are intended. Much of the material is scholarly; the general foreword is turgid; and while the juxtaposition of controversial views will stimulate debate, these books don't have the snap of argument and the informal approach to complicated issues that make other Opposing Viewpoints series so immediate and so readable. The primary source materials, particularly those in the volume on slavery, will reach a wide audience, and high school history students and teachers will find these books valuable resources for research papers. The long annotated bibliographies are excellent, the individual selections are of high quality, and the range of viewpoints is wide. There's lots of good material here, but it's not that easy to get to. The volume on the American Revolution is listed in the Series Roundup in this issue. ~--Hazel Rochman