Covering every major event in the country`s history, including the causes of the American Revolution, the struggle over slavery that led to the Civil War, the Reconstruction of the country following the war, the rise of big business, the emergence of the United States as a world power, the descent into the Great Depression, the wars of the Twentieth Century, and the outbreak of terrorism in the United States and around the globe. The book also describes how English colonists slowly transformed themselves into the Americans we know today. Most particularly, it seeks to demonstrate how a collection of sovereign, independent states created a workable republican government that subsequently evolved into a democracy, and how society underwent periodic changes in the way individuals looked and behaved. It is a unique, exciting and wonderful story which needs to be better known and appreciated-especially by its own citizens.