Barron's AP United States History 2008 (Barron's How to Prepare for the Ap United States History Advanced Placement Examination),   ISBN:9780764136849

Customer Rating: 

I made the mistake of not reading reviews when I brought this. After wasting 2 weeks trying to understand this, I quit and bought the REA AP US History book. That provided me with a thorough review of all the topics covered on the exam. I got a 3. However, if I had started that book earlier, I am sure I would have gotten a 5. All Barron's does is tell you how to write essays. It is complete crap.

Customer Rating: 

This is exactly what I would look for in a review book for AP US. I feel that too many students are looking for "quick fixes" and "one-stop location for AP US History: the essay, the actual history, the multiple choice." Well, there is no shortcut to learning history, whether listening to lectures, reading Brinkley, taking notes from AMSCO. No one can force you to learn all that history in a week or two, especially not Barron's. Let's face it, if Barron's US History was like Barron's AP Chemistry, would anyone sit through it? I think I'd go back to Brinkley.

This review books concentrates on honing your essay and multiple choice skills, while giving you a brief overview of each important era. Moreover, the timeline in the appendix is really dandy when you're trying to remember the order events.

I RECOMMEND this book if you need to finetune your skills and need some extra practice. This is book is NOT RECOMMENDED for those of you who use this as a last ditch effort. Moreover, those with a weak will (heavy procrastinators!) should not buy this book. It is helpful to brainstorm the FRQ's with your friends on a rainy day. Write down what you brainstormed, and then the week or so before you take the test, look over the FRQs you guys did together. It'll help jog your memory.

There was a jarring typo on one page in a multiple choice about inventions. Otherwise, it was a great book.

Customer Rating: 

The shipping and condition were great...but the book itself. not so much

I wanted an AP US book that gave me course material (i.e review chapters)
but this book was a compilation of essays with NO COURSE REVIEW
i returned it, because i didn't even use it after i flipped through the pages once

Customer Rating: 

I, too, was very disappointed with this book. In the past, I have been quite impressed by Barron's, mostly because of the comprehensive subject reviews their books offer. This book, however, offers no such thing. A majority of the book is taken up with poorly written practice questions and even worse explanations that do little to further one's knowledge of US history, nor one's preparedness for the AP test. Its only redeeming feature is a section at the end which contains timelines and brief information on major developments from each time period arranged chronologically. Even this, however, contains little more than event names with their corresponding dates. If you want to be truly prepared for the AP test, I HIGHLY recommend "United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination," by John J. Newman and John M. Schmalbach and published by Amsco.

Overall, this Barron's AP US History book is a waste of money. Stick with Amsco for APUSH, and use Barron's for other subjects, such as AP Chemistry.

Customer Rating: 

This book is horrible! I thought I could use it to study for my history test, but when I opened it, I realized that all this book did was tell you how to do well on the test and other bogus junk - things that you should know if you have already taken an AP Test. This book was of NO HELP. Such books need to have review of history - this book barely had any. The only review it had was explaining the sample questions it provided. Sure it sounds like its helpful but its not because that topic is not the ONLY thing that is going to be covered on the test. The princeton version is better - even though it says "Cracking the AP US HISTORY EXAM," it has some hints, but mainly summary - what is mainly needed.