高芳英主编的《美国史学习指导书》形式上是一本学习指导书，实际上也是一本“美国简史”或者“美国史概要”。本书虽然简明扼要但内容十分丰富，涵盖了上至美国工业化和城市化之始，下到克林顿总统新经济时代的美国政治、经济、外交、文化、教育、科技、社会、观念、环境保护等主题；本书从纷繁复杂的历史长河中，整理归纳出重要的历史线索和内容，用定义解释的方法，运用英语的神韵，借助汉语的魅力阐释美国历史；本书对重要的专用名词和学生不熟悉的人名都有中文标注，对字典上难以查到的专业术语和专业缩写词都有中文标注；本书每章附有与内容紧密相关的练习题，学生通过习题练习，更易掌握和巩固所学内容；本书最后还附有学期总复习思考题，通过复习思考，可以训练并提高学生的综合分析能力。

To the Student

Chapter 1: Industrialization and Urbanization

 Economic Growth after the Civil War

 Urbanization

 Review Questions

Chapter 2: An Emerging World Power

 Foreign Affairs in the 1890s

 The First World War, 1914--1918

 Review Questions

Chapter 3: The Twenties: Prosperity

 Harding and Coolidge, 1921--1929

 Economic and Social Developments of the 1920s

 Review Questions

Chapter 4: The Dream Turns to Dust and the Reform

 Hoover and the Great Depression, 1928--1933

 The Domestic Reforms of the New Deal, 1933--1939

 Review Questions

Chapter 5: The Road to World War II

 The Background of World War II and U.S.

 Foreign Affairs, 1933 -1941

 TheU.S. in the Second World War, 1941--1945

 Review Questions

Chapter 6: Postwar Challenges, the Cold War

 Foreign Affairs under Truman, 1945--1953

 Foreign Affairs under Eisenhower, 1953--1961

 The Vietnam War

 Review Questions

Chapter 7: The Affluent Society

 Significant Social and Economic

 Developments, 1933--1964

 The Kennedy Administration, 1961--1963

 The Lyndon Johnson Administration, 1964--1969

 Review Questions

Chapter 8: The Lean Years

 The Nixon Years

 The Economic Downturn

 The New Activism: Environmental and

 Consumer Movements

 Review Quest ions

Chapter 9: Dynamic Conservatism

 Reagan Administration, 1981--1989

 Ending the Cold War

 Review Questions

Chapter10: The Close of the Century

 Clinton and the Robust Economy

 Popular Culture and Popular Technology

 Review Questions

Appendices

 Ⅰ. General or Survey Final Examination Review Questions

 Ⅱ. American Presidents and Vice Presidents

 Ⅲ. References