AP® U.S. Government & Politics Crash Course Book + Online (Advanced Placement (AP) Crash Course)

These books are a GREAT book for the person that wants to review an entire year's worth of history in one night. They give a line or two to every detail. This isn't enough to just read the book then go take the test without taking the class (I've used Barrons and 5 Steps for that and gotten 5s on other tests) but they are excellent for seeing a subject and getting a refresher on, say, the part of the lemon test, or what court cases are important and what they changed. It is also great when you come across something and have completely forgotten about the subject and then can go look up more about it on the internet or in your text book. This book has always made me much more confident about taking the history tests each year and I would say has raised my score by at least one point each time. The book is about 200 pages and can be sufficiently studied in about 5 hours (that includes looking up the things you are shaky on)This last year (for APUSGOP) I had a really good teacher so this book wasn't as helpful (but it still made me comfortable for the test, which I believe is more important than knowing content to some extent) but my sophomore and junior year (AP Euro and APUSH, respectively) I had teachers than marched to their own drum and deviated a lot from the AP curriculum. If I studied what they tought me all year, I wouldn't have focused on the important things, and I would have spent precious time studying things that CANNOT EVER BE ON THE TEST. To that end, the writers of this book analyze the respective course outline (it tells you EXACTLY what is on the test, I think most teachers don't even read this) and also analyze all of the released exams. The college board recycles questions and follows really predictable patterns, in spite of what your teacher will have you believe. A few times in the book, it will say something like "The college board hasn't had an essay about women's rights in several years, so you should be prepared for one. Here are some things that would make a strong women's rights essay." Although they aren't always on the test, these books predicted at least one of my essays ALL THREE YEARS. They also predict tons of multi choice answers in this manner.So basically this book will really help guide your last minute studies to the point where it feels almost like an answer key to the test. I've used several guides for different tests (like Human Geo and Envi Sci) and what I have learned is that really any of the guides are great if you use them as intended and they match how you like to learn. This book will be extremely powerful to you if you want to study a day or two before the AP test, or if you have a teacher that uses released questions as in class test questions, in which case you just review the chapter the night before, then dominate the test the next day.

I found this very helpful while trying to study for the AP Gov test. I did not take this course, so I relied mostly on this book. Also, my attempt at this was to learn (enough of) this course in a two weeks span. It was very useful as it provided bullets points, sections with main ideas, and other important information. The thing I liked the most about it was that the book gave me a rundown of how the AP Gov test works, and what I would need to do to get a certain score. The book it specifically based around teaching the most important information. They decide this by looking at previous years of tests and breaking down what questions were being asked and how often. It was good to know that I'm not just reading over information that probably wont be needed to be known for the test.As an added bonus, it helps to also watch the Crash Course channel's YouTube series about AP Gov. There are about 50 videos total, and the series is a little more general and can be used as a good review. It serves as a nice compliment to the AP Book.

I love this book so much, and I'm positive that if you get it, you will too. Here is a list of things I like about this book:1. Concise: At around 180 pages, this is the shortest review book for AP Gov out there. And if you're in a time crunch like I was and decide to start studying the night before the test, you'll have no problem breezing right through it.2. Organized: The whole book is organized in an easy-to-read bulleted format. Don't worry about trying to plough throw dense paragraphs of information like in the Princeton Review, because everything you need to know is contained in short sound bites.3. Test-oriented: Of all the review books, REA does the best job analyzing the College Board's course description and previous AP tests to identify topics and patterns that keep coming up. There are Test Tips all over the book that point out important distinctions and ideas that you'll need to know specifically for the test.4. Key Terms: There are also a few chapters devoted to key terms, topics, and court cases that you absolutely have to know. These are the topics that are the most frequently tested, and even if you only study these topics, you'll be on your way to at least earning a passing grade.Don't even bother with another review book. Everyone I know who has gone with the Crash Course has gotten a 5.

Even though I read the description of what it was meant to be used for, as a quick "Crash Course" into AP Gov, it should not be used if you want anything more. This book is very barebones, and quick, and simply helps people cram before the test, and nothing else. My friends all had much more detailed test prep books, which helped them throughout the semester, whereas I could only really use mine for studying for the tests. My teacher wanted us to use the test prep books with the class, as a support to our textbook, which was also very good. In this regard, this "Crash Course" failed. Lastly, the vocab is all clumped into one section, instead of being in the front of each section. I found that confusing.Only use this test prep book if you are looking for a quick look into AP Government and Politics. If you want a more in-depth look into the topics, I suggest 5 Steps to a 5, The Princeton Review, or Barron's.

This AP US Government & Poltiics prep book was pretty fun to read, I have to admit. It is organized in a way that is easy for your eyes and helps you get the primary definitions and events down. I used this as a supplement so I can review things last minute (around 2 days prior to the AP test) and it helped to refresh my memory of the primary concepts.I wouldn't use this book as my only source of preparation, but I would use it as a supplement. It does not really expand on the concepts and terms as much as I would have liked, but considering that this is a condensed book, it does as much as it can to prepare you for your AP exam.Overall, I'm glad I made this purchase.