American Nations

A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

By: Colin Woodard

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

An illuminating history of North America's 11 rival cultural regions that explodes the red state/blue state myth.

North America was settled by people with distinct religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics, creating regional cultures that have been at odds with one another ever since. Subsequent immigrants didn't confront or assimilate into an "American" or "Canadian" culture, but rather into one of the 11 distinct regional ones that spread over the continent, each staking out mutually exclusive territory.

In American Nations, Colin Woodard leads us on a journey through the history of our fractured continent and the rivalries and alliances between its component nations, which conform to neither state nor international boundaries. He illustrates and explains why "American" values vary sharply from one region to another.

Woodard reveals how intranational differences have played a pivotal role at every point in the continent's history, from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the tumultuous sixties and the "blue county/red county" maps of recent presidential elections. American Nations is a revolutionary and revelatory take on America's myriad identities and how the conflicts between them have shaped our past and are molding our future.

©2011 Colin Woodward (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"Woodard offers a fascinating way to parse American (writ large) politics and history in this excellent book." ( Kirkus)

"Woodard explains away partisanship in American Nations... which makes the provocative claim that our culture wars are inevitable. North America was settled by groups with distinct political and religious value - and we haven't had a moment's peace since." ( Publishers Weekly)

mostly good except for the polemic at the end

I wasn't completely sold on the assertions at the beginning, but he backs them up with enough evidence to be plausible. I think, though, that the research into the cultures of New France, First Nations, and El Norte is a little outside of this author's expertise.

The last couple chapters, though, turn into a diatribe against modern conservatism.

A Sociological View of American History

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard examines American history from a cultural perspective. The author suggests that North American is made up more by Nations than by states. Nations he argues are groups of people or regions sharing a common cultural, history and set of values. He posits that there are eleven such national regions in North America formed from the immigrant groups who had different heritages. Woodard describes how these different cultures divided the American people into slave owners versus abolitionists, central government advocates versus states’ rights proponents, and Tories versus revolutionaries. He argues that every major event and movement in American can be attributed to regional cultural differences that originated in our country’s early history and exist to the present.
I enjoyed examining American history from a different perspective than I have in other sources I have studied. I recommend it to anyone truly interested American history or cultural issues.

The First 2/3 Is Good

What did you like best about American Nations? What did you like least?

The first 2/3 in which the author establishes and supports his hypothesis is interesting and often convincing. The latter 1/3 however he betrays his own "nationality" in his very attempt at being Objective.
To be objective about one's own nation and culture is in itself a feature of the Post-Modern mind. The "Left Coast" with its universities, like Cathedrals of a new dispensation, have spread far and wide throughout the land.
The ironic, self-aware and glib tone of the college indoctucated IS the Shibboleth of the Left Coast nation.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

This is not a novel! The rating for "Story" is required in order to proceed. But it is not a "story" per se.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Walter Dixon?

The author either used a lot of air quotes in writing or the narrator caught the drift of the tone of the writing. Since I do not have the written text in any form, I cannot speak to the narrators usage of "air quotes".

Could you see American Nations being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No. It is non-fiction! Ken Burns.

Best book I read in 2016

More than any other book I've read, this book helped me understand the challenges of being "united" states.

Absolutely brilliant analysis!

This brilliant book explains the history of America as you’ve never heard it before. Woodward’s theory of 11 ethnic-regional cultures is spot on. He goes through 400 years of history tracing the origins and development of each “nation”. Each chapter is packed with mind blowing statistics that reveal how much research went into this analysis and how perfect the theory fits. For the first time I truly understand politics now! This book is a must-read for any political candidate who wants to understand America.

Bait and switch

An intelligent, nuanced account of the seventeenth through middle nineteenth centuries degenerates into smug, partisan dismissal of everything after Reconstruction

Great Book ruined by narrator

I saw a hard copy in the book store and was interested so I purchased the audible version. I listened to quite a bit of it because the content is so great, but I had to return it. The narrator, who seems very capable, is just too monotone. I think that perhaps some prefer this, but I definitely do not. A must read book, but I highly recommend a hard copy.

The history you never learned

I would call this micro history. It's all the little revolutions and battles in between the big ones. It also attempts and I think pretty much succeeds to explain the regional differences existing today in the US based on our history. The only negative, I thought, is that the narrator sounded like someone narrating one of those movies you watched in Middle School in the 1950s.

Good Historical Read

There is a lot of learning that comes with this book. It’s worth listening to for sure. This book does a nice job explaining why America is the way it is today.

READ THIS BOOK

The first couple of chapters were kind of slow and I almost gave up. I'm so glad I did not. If you are a person that is eager to understand the 'big picture' this book will blow your mind. My understanding of the political lines in this country has been much expanded. I'm not going to tell you this book will make you feel better or more optimistic. on the contrary it shows that we have always been divided by core beliefs and will likely remain that way. After consuming this book which was published before president Obama's second term the book's epilogue made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I hope this doesn't make you unwilling to try the book. I was rapt and thoroughly enjoyed it and consider it time well spent. If you do read or listen to the book I would advise keeping the map on the front cover close at hand.