You may not think that a history book could make you laugh, but THE AMERICAN PAGEANT just might. It's known for being one of the most popular, effective and entertaining texts on American history. Colorful anecdotes, first-person quotations and the authors' trademark wit bring history to life. Learning aids make the book as accessible as it is enjoyable: part openers and chapter-ending chronologies provide a context for the major periods in American history, while primary sources and introductions to key historical figures give you a front row seat to the nation's past.

David M. Kennedy is Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus and founding Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University. He also serves as General Editor of the OXFORD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES series. His volume in the series, FREEDOM FROM FEAR: THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN DEPRESSION AND WAR, 1929-1945, won the Pulitzer Prize for History, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Ambassador's Prize and the California Gold Medal for Literature. He is also the author of OVER HERE: THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND AMERICAN SOCIETY, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and BIRTH CONTROL IN AMERICA: THE CAREER OF MARGARET SANGER, which won the Bancroft and John Gilmary Shea Prizes. He is also editor of THE MODERN AMERICAN MILITARY, and co-editor of WORLD WAR II AND THE WEST IT WROUGHT. He lives in Stanford, California.