This volume in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series offers a concise, readable narrative of the vast span of American history, from the earliest human migrations to the early twenty-first century when the United States loomed as a global power and comprised a complex multi-cultural society of more than 300 million people. The narrative is organized around major interpretive themes, with facts and dates introduced as needed to illustrate these themes. The emphasis throughout is on clarity and accessibility to the interested non-specialist.

The database has five sections of US data covering: Population, Work and welfare, Economic structure and performance, Economic sectors, Governance and international relations. Data can be downloaded as excel or CSV files, and the help functions are detailed.