The American Challenge: Preserving the Greatness of America in the 21st Century, What Every American Should Know About Their Country [ペーパーバック]

This is a tremendous text! In information in here is endless and a must read for ALL Americans. As a mother of 4 boys, and a school librarian, I feel this book has a place in every home and every library. The book is filled with such valuable information on everything in American history including the people who helped shaped this beautiful country, the documents that designed the way in which our country is run, the speeches that inspired our nation and a timeline for the most important events in history. This is a book that I am going to reference on a regular basis. Both my husband & I are history buffs, and we are passing our love of history on to our sons...we regularly discuss history and visit historical places. I have read the book as an eBook, but I am planning on purchasing the print version. I feel that the print version would be better to reference than the electronic version. This book will have a special place in our personal library along with my school library.

The American Challenge is by far one of the best informative books I have ever read. At the end of the book is the U.S. Citizenship Test that new citizens have to pass (they must get 6 of the 10 questions correct). Being born and raised in Pennsylvania, actually only about 30 minutes from our capital, I am ashamed to say that before reading The American Challenge, I could only answer ONE of the US Citizenship questions correctly! After reading, I was able to answer all ten with no problem.
This book is so well written, it gives a timeline of important American history from the year 1000 all the way up to 2011. It gives great detail about all 44 of our presidents, from President George Washington up to and including, President Barack Obama. There were amazing facts on the Presidents in there.... it told how many never got to finish their terms, four were assassinated, one resigned and four died from illnesses, how 3 of our first 5 presidents died on the 4th of July. That is something I did not know, how weird is that!
If you are interested in knowing exactly what the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution says, it's all right there in The American Challenge. It also tells the Amendments of the Constitution.
It tells us about our government, about our military and about how the United States President is chosen. There is even a chapter on the American flag. And another little section on our major holidays and a bit of information on our state bird.
One chapter is all about famous speeches and another is about famous songs and poems about America. I really found this part informative, because the only song I knew was the Star Spangled Banner! It shows famous people in American history, famous art, famous outlaws and major U.S. disasters. The American Challenge even gives us a little bit of information on the killing of Bin Laden.
This is a MUST READ for anybody that wants to brush up on their history and I truly believe that this book should be in every classroom, a required reading for older students.

The American Challenge by Robert C. Etheredge

In the book "The American Challenge" author Robert Etheredge takes you on a journey where you will see very foundation of One of the greatest nation in world, America. This book is brought into existence to help Americans learn more about their country and keep the American dream alive. This book is well written and chapterised to help readers if they want to fine tune only specific areas of their knowledge, for instance If one want to know great speeches in American History then all they have to do is turn to Chapter 8 which deals with speeches from Patrick Henry (1773) to Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Woodrow Wilson and many others.

Book starts with History of America wherein author showed a Historical Timeline which is really helpful to analyze major events in past 1000 years. This timeline itself spans almost one third of the book. There after author gives briefs about Presidents, from First President George Washington to the current Barack H. Obama. Later in the book there are maps of U.S. ranging from year 1600 to current national parks. Then there is Founding Documents brief, a whole chapter on How Government works, American Heroes. Then there is a chapter on Histories great speeches from many influential Americans, which is followed by various Poems and Songs. And lastly there is a Citizenship test which will help to access information gained form this book.

On concluding note Author writes, "Our country needs an informed and active citizenry as never before. And that means understanding our history, knowing how the government works, and being familiar with the documents that guide our country. This should be a goal of all Americans, whether native-born or naturalized. New citizens are the building blocks of America's future, and everyone benefits when they become participating and informed members of our society. Native-born citizens have an equal responsibility to stay informed about their country--a recent poll of American citizens showed that more than one-third of them would fail the U.S. Citizenship Test given to immigrants." - Robert C. Etheredge, The American Challenge. MiraVista Press.

This book might have been written to help native as well as immigrant Americans to know their history of America and help one to pass Citizenship test but that doesn't mean that's the scope of this book. This book is for anyone who want to know more about one of the Finest nation in the world, it's history, it's legacy. This book is for any Enthusiast who likes America for what it is and what it once was. This book surely is a Gem in my collection and a deserving 5 out of 5 star rating.