2010-08-06 Dont waste your time (1 of 5)
I Just want to add one more review, and agree with all the reviews below. This book has nothing to do with the American Government CLEP. DOn't waste your time or money!

2010-01-05 Not worth a penny (1 of 5)
I purchased this book to be prepared for a clep exam and it claimed they cover everything you need for the test. i took all the practice tests and scored at least 98% on them. I read the book a few times and even wrote notes out. at the day of the test i could hardly believe my eyes. There were maybe three questions that were answered in the book, the rest was not. I failed the test, which hasnt happened in at least 10 years. the book is a waste of money. Dont buy it! Save the money!

2009-11-04 What Is the Secret Recipe for Passing AG? (2 of 5)
After reading this text three times, and after hours of committing every Amendment and law case of the Supreme Court covered here to memory, after reading the U. S. Constitution five times and both of John Locke's Treatises on Government, I failed this course by four questions. My critique of this course is for the self-taught students looking to enjoy success, as I have had success in other subjects, with the CLEP exams. Perhaps this book is worth the money but I'm unconvinced the material written in this book is enough for complete confidence on the day of the test. Most of what I studied was superfluous. Apparently, the secret recipe for passing this course is: REA's American Government CLEP study guide, any brief history of Black America, and any brief history of feminist movements reflecting civil rights. I knew what was written in the Fourteenth Amendment when I took the test, but I had no idea the test was going to be less about government and more about history, sometimes barely hitting the target of the subject of government or even law. The names of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln never appeared on the test I took. There were few questions on the Constitution itself, which I believed was American Government. Maybe I should be critiquing the test itself, but I hope to enlighten serious students. Yes, this book is very interesting - everything from the Second Continental Congress to Plessey versus Ferguson. In all fairness, this text may be enough to score enough to pass. Perhaps a student better than I could have passed the test with five or eight questions to spare based on the information covered here. However, as I already mentioned, it's insufficient for having confidence when testing day arrives. This test is a game. If students use the secret recipe I provided, I'm sure they will do quite well. Also, adding a documentary on Congress to the study time will be the icing on the cake.

2009-06-18 Not worth the money (2 of 5)
Like some of the other reviewers, I read this book cover to cover. I also took the practice tests and did very well on them. However, there were hardly any questions in the actual exam that resembled any of the questions in the book. There were quite a few questions that weren't even touched on in the whole book. Luckily, my college requires two government classes, the CLEP only counts for one of them, and I had already taken the other. My previous government class touched on a lot of these topics, and I still had the textbook, so I read all of the textbook that was not exclusively about Texas government. If I hadn't done that, I would never have passed this exam.

Don't waste your money on this book. The College Board website has links to some free resources online, and they are much better than what's covered in this book.

2009-05-25 good coverage (4 of 5)
More than bringing up what you need to know to pass the test, this CLEP book makes for pretty good reading. It can't hurt to look at other resources, but this book gets the job done.