Rand McNally Atlas of American History

As recently posted, I'm interested in American history, but quickly tired of the text-only offerings (like Paul Johnson's, reviewed here).  Thus, I approached it from the other extreme- a book that was almost entirely maps.  Enter the Rand McNally Atlas of American History.

This book is short (~90 pages), and separated into 9 sections of American historical periods.  A brief text introduces each section, which thereafter is nothing but maps illustrating a variety of things, from Indian tribe locations, to Civil War battles, to population densities, etc.  There's a lot of information- good information- here.

Overall, I liked the maps (though the quality- and color choices- could have been improved).  However, I need a balance between text-only and map-only.  This is a good resource, nice for perusing on a lazy afternoon, but it in itself is insufficient for history.  Still, it is interesting, and recommended.

Rating: B