America: A Narrative History Family
A best-selling narrative history enters a new generation
The beloved and best-selling America: A Narrative History family of books has been used by millions of students because of its enthralling storytelling that brings history to life. Award-winning teachers and scholars Daina Ramey Berry, Joseph Crespino, and Amy Murrell Taylor join lead author David Shi in the latest editions.
Features of the New Editions
Explore new coverage of women across political, social, and cultural history
All the authors have enhanced the new edition with sustained coverage of women’s experiences in American history throughout the text, using it as a lens to explore political, social, and cultural history.
Help students build confidence working with primary sources
The new edition of America integrates primary source readings into each chapter for the first time, with NEW Comparing Perspectives primary source documents that invite students to examine perspectives from two different voices.
Support students as they read with the Norton Illumine Ebook
The NEW Norton Illumine Ebook integrates engaging learning tools into the chapter reading, including Check Your Understanding questions, Comparing Perspectives and Visual Explorations interactive activities, and more.
Meet the Authors
David Emory Shi is president emeritus and professor emeritus at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He is the longtime author of the America family of books and an expert on American cultural history.
Daina Ramey Berry is professor of history and the Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an internationally recognized scholar of the enslaved and a specialist on gender and slavery and Black women’s history in the United States.
Joseph Crespino is the Jimmy Carter Professor of History at Emory University and chair of the History Department. He is an expert in the political and cultural history of the twentieth-century United States.
Amy Murrell Taylor is the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of History at the University of Kentucky. She is a social and cultural historian of the nineteenth-century United States, with a focus on the American South.
Best Value and Options
Full Thirteenth Edition
The Full Thirteenth Edition features a comprehensive narrative with more context, more first-person quotes, biographical vignettes, and examples.
Brief Thirteenth Edition
The low-price Brief Thirteenth Edition features a 15% shorter narrative and the best overall value.
Fourth Essential Learning Edition
The Fourth Essential Learning Edition features a 15% shorter narrative (the same as the Brief Edition) with added pedagogical features to guide student reading.
Receive Digital Access (Instructors Only)
What Students Are Saying About the Narrative
“I have never really liked history until I read your book. I love the way it is written. It’s not boring at all. Thank you for making me love history.”
“Your ability to weave historical facts into a compelling narrative is nothing short of magical. The past came alive, and I found myself eagerly turning each page.”
“Your inclusion of diverse voices—those of ordinary citizens, trailblazing leaders, and unsung heroes—brought depth to the story. It’s refreshing to see history from multiple angles.”
Measuring Impact
The Norton Illumine Ebook has been used by over half a million students since it debuted in Spring 2023. We asked over 250 history students to share their feedback so far:
75% of students prefer using an ebook to a print book, with about 50% of students “much” preferring an ebook to a print book.
“Honestly, Norton Illumine Ebook has been one of the best, if not the best, ebooks I have ever used. It is simple and very readable. I feel like I can end a section and recall most of the information…. I feel prepared with it for class.”
96% of students said the ebook with embedded Check Your Understanding questions helped them better understand the material:
“The questions help me decipher the important parts of the reading from the less important/background knowledge parts.”
“They provide an incentive to read the book.”
InQuizitive has been used at over 1,600 schools by more than 1.9 million students.
Nine out of ten students surveyed (2,493 survey responses) believe InQuizitive helped them do better in class.
In an efficacy study, when history students completed an InQuizitive activity prior to being given a summative quiz, student quiz grades increased by an average of 16 percentage points.
Thinking Like a Historian exercises have received feedback from over 500 students so far:
We asked them to consider their comfort level reading and interpreting primary and secondary source documents before completing the activity. After completing the activities, 86% of them rated their confidence and ability to work with documents as improved to some degree.
We also asked them what was most helpful about the exercises:
“It was all amazing, especially being able to read the passages.”
“I liked how you get feedback whenever you get it right or wrong.”
- “The style of it is different from other activities. Variety is the spice of life (and learning).”
Customer Support
Receive on-demand support from a dedicated customer success manager who will consult on course design, integrate our tools into your LMS, and provide ongoing assistance. In a recent survey, 91 percent of instructors felt supported or very supported using Norton learning tools.
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