Thank you to Korra II for allowing me to repost this book review. This review was originally published on August 3, 2021, on Baskerville Books. You can find the original review here.
Synopsis
Written by a combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, A True History of the United States grew out of a course that Daniel A. Sjursen taught to cadets at West Point, his alma mater. With chapter titles such as “Patriots or Insurgents?” and “The Decade That Roared and Wept”, A True History is accurate with respect to the facts and intellectually honest in its presentation and analysis.
Book Review
A True History of the United States:
Indigenous Genocide, Racialized Slavery, Hyper-Capitalism, Militarist Imperialism and Other Overlooked Aspects of American Exceptionalism
reviewed by Korra II
Image Description: Book cover. A True History of the United States runs across the center of the cover in black ink against a white background. The subtitle is in white text matted in orange.
Credit: Kora II
My review of this book is primarily of the audiobook.
This book is a perfect example of just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. I’m not referring to the history of the U.S. and the many failings and shortcomings of the nation, mentioned in this story. I’m referring to the author doing the narration. This is the second time I’ve reviewed an audiobook where the author did the narration and it’s the second time their lifeless reading nearly put me to sleep.
There are other complaints I have that are minor. The mispronunciation of the country of Chile and referring to 0 as o when naming off dates. Both have always annoyed me, but they’re especially annoying with how well researched, written, and spoken the rest of the story is.
I’m glad I stuck through the dull parts at the beginning; he does eventually begin to speak with some gusto. I was surprised at how well-written and informative this story is. I’ve learned more about the history of the United States while listening to this story than I ever did in school.
The pacing and organization of the information presented are handled extremely well. I find it unfortunate that the majority of the people who need to read this book are either illiterate or brain-dead, brainwashed patriots who would dismiss anything in this book that contradicts their narrative of the world.
I often seek out well-organized narratives for things I enjoy. Documentaries, movies, YouTube videos, etc. The goal is to do what this book does. A complete narrative history, in as close to timeline order as I can get it, with as much relevant info as possible. I appreciate the work that the author put into this narrative, and this is absolutely a book I’ll be returning to in the future when I need to brush up on my U.S. history knowledge.
NOTE: This audiobook was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
From Korra II
My name is Korra II, I'm an independent book reviewer, writing for my personal blog. While all of my reviews are published to my blog, some even remaining exclusive, my reviews can often be found on other sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookbub, etc. The bulk of my review copies are digital audiobooks obtained via. StoryOrigin. I primarily work with small publishers or indie authors
I've reviewed more than 430 stories and have spent more than 75,000 minutes listening to audiobooks.
75,497 minutes or 1,258 hours as of May 5, 2026.
See my TBR for a glimpse of my review pile, not counting my personal copies. If I promised you a review, you will get it, but it may take a minute. I primarily review based on what genre or series I'm feeling, not deadlines.
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