I'm 16 and I was assigned this book at the end of last year as my summer reading book for my AP class. My favorite subject is history and I love reading (I read for fun). However, out of all the books I have read, this is the WORST. Do not read this book unless you absolutely HAVE to. You've been warned. At first glance it looks interesting (at least for me it did), but read the first page and your lost! I always thought I was a relatively good reader, and I could understand words even if I didn't know what they meant. This book changed my opinon on that. Over-run sentences and giant words make comprehending this book almost impossible. I have to summerize each chapter, which is reletively easy since the first part of each chapter tells basically what it's all about. But then we have to "apply what we read to today's world and current leaders, analyze and evaluate individuals being discussed, extended the analysis beyond the chapter (how did it connect to other chapters/events? What might be the outcome? What will happen next?) and finally record your reaction, thoughts and opinions of each chapter". My opinion: this was the worst assignment ever. I knew that an AP class is a college level course, but I really didn't know that it was at a Graduate college level! By the way, does anyone know the Author's thesis? The book has no plot! How can one thell what's going to happen next when the book jumps from 1804 to 1790 and back to 1801 in the final chapter? Again, I express my immense dissapointment in this book and hope no one will ever read this book willingly.