Note to Teachers

If you teach a survey of American history in a community college, high school or in the first two years of a 4-year college, you may find the Academic American text a suitable alternative to a more expensive text.

Here in Virginia we have a new textbook law which requires all teachers at state colleges and universities to hold down textbook costs. That is a battle I fought for years, using brief editions of texts, selected collections of documents, the Internet and World Wide Web, a public domain text published by the State Department, and my own topic summaries, which I finally combined into a full-length text book. Using the Lulu publishing system was very easy—I learned the routine in no time.

Make no mistake—this is a pared-down volume, but it contains the basic threads of American history, including documents. It will be updated continually, but not in a way that will require you to start over. New material will be added from time to time, and existing sections may be edited or elaborated for greater clarity. So the text will grow, slowly, over time, and you may, if you are using this text, recommend changes you would like to see incorporated. If your suggestions are adopted, you will not have to wait for the “next edition,” for updates can be made in a matter of minutes through Lulu's excellent print-on-demand service. Since it is a brief text, you may want to use it in conjunction with other readers, collections of essays or your own materials.

Upon request I will gladly share sample quiz and exam questions and suggested writing projects, which you can find linked from the course home pages.

Your bookstore will never carry this book because Lulu is print on demand. They will not take back unsold copies. In any case, your bookstore would add a markup. The only place your students can get this book at present is at www.lulu.com/hjsage, which is the store front Lulu provides for me—and for all its authors.

Unless Lulu changes its rates, which at this juncture I find unlikely, the cost of adding material will be minimal—two cents per page, to be exact. If if they raised the print costs from 2 cents to 3 cents a page, that would increase the total cost to the buyer by less than 5 dollars, but I don't think that is likely. An increase of 2.5 cents per page might be the next step, which would raise the price 50 cents per hundred pages of text. Setup costs for each volume are constant.

If you are interested in considering this text for your students, I will have a copy sent to you at my expense. There are no “examination copies”—even as the author I have to pay for every volume I buy. Since that holds down costs, it's fine with me. I will be happy to send one to anyone seriously interested. If you are browsing only, I recommend this web site, as the entire content may be found here. If you decide to use the text, I will put you on a mailing list and keep you informed of any significant updates.

I did this labor for my students, and over the years they have helped create it, since it was made from my web site, to which they always have input. When the cost of textbooks passed all bounds of decency, and publishers went out of their way to discourage students from being able to cut costs with used volumes through frequent updates, all sorts of add-ons, etc., I said "Enough!" I had tried to get publishers to look at my work for years, without so much as a courteous reply. So I said, "If you can't join 'em, fight 'em!'

If you want to learn more, send me an email and we'll take it from there. Back to Academic American Home.