A nice little sampling of settlements and history from ocean to ocean with plenty of original pictures, and artwork, both more contemporary and from the time and place in each section. This little book reads like a collection of National Geographic articles (it should, it is published by the National Geographic Society) and is a wonderful elementary level introduction to an overview of American History. It is what it is, not meant to be thorough and too detailed, but rather like a sampler platter, a good place to start learning about our country. They also publish many other short books that look interesting. ( )