American History Now

Critical Perspectives on the Past

by Eric Foner (Editor), Lisa McGirr (Editor), American Historical Association (Editor)

American History Now collects eighteen original historiographic essays that survey recent scholarship in American history and trace the shifting lines of interpretation and debate in the field. Building on the legacy of two previous editions of The New American History, this volume presents an entirely new group of contributors and a reconceptualized table of contents.

The new generation of historians showcased in American History No posed new questions and developed new approaches to scholarship to revise the prevailing interpretations of the chronological periods from the colonial era to the Reagan years. Covering the established subfields of women's history, African American history, and immigration history, the book also considers the history of capitalism, Native American history, environmental history, religious history, cultural history, and the history of "the United States in the world."

American History Now provides an indispensable summation of the state of the field for those interested in the study and teaching of the American past.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Grad School, American

439 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2011

About the author

Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. In his teaching and scholarship, Foner focuses on the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and nineteenth-century America. His Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877, won the Bancroft, Parkman, and Los Angeles Times Book prizes and remains the standard history of the period. His latest book published in 2010 is The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.

In 2006 Foner received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching at Columbia University. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Society of American Historians.

Reviews

[Colleen Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. It is historiographical so some people might shy away from it but it is worth the time reading it and definitely helps with understanding the study of history, Moreover, with Eric Foner's name on it, you know it will be good.

[Steve Limkeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historiography is not a genre of writing that is easy to read. It’s incredibly and necessarily dense as a survey or “state of the field” on a particular theme, sub-field or period of history. However, it is a necessary starting place when one wants to delve deeply into a particular topic. It will introduce to you new paradigms of thought and acquaint you with the latest scholarship, contrasting their new approaches with what has come before. It’s what I’ve come to term as a necessary evil which may bear the fruit of much good research and also save you quite a bit of time in the process. I imagine that these historiographical essays, each written by leading scholars in their respective fields, may be a better place to start than most if you’d like a survey of a particular discipline within American History.

[Joseph Case · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for 2011, needs a sequel with a prologue that bridges the gap between 2011 and present historiography. The essay on "many wests" stood out as particularly insightful. Others were less memorable.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful but somewhat dated look at American historiography ca. 1996- 2006. Chapters, written by leading historians in their field, focus on eras and topics.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for a college history course.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historiographical look at important American historical periods. Valuable for understanding how historians have approached American history in the past and how they approach it now.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look into the historiography of how our study of the trends of historical research has gone.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tedious but informative!

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a primer on the current trends in the writing of American history this volume has a one notable strength and a few glaring weaknesses. Its strength lies in the recency of its publication, just a few months ago. The essays contained should remain relevant for a number of years.

However, the volume was indifferently edited. The name of one of the contributors is misspelled at least twice in a fellow contributor's essay. Likewise, the book unaccountably lacks an index, something invaluable for locating themes common to more than one essay. The recurrence of various themes happens with regularity, as Foner and McGirr note in their introduction. To not provide the reader with a simple tool to trace these commonalities is a very unfortunate blunder, and one which decreases the utility of the book considerably. Likewise, it would be worthwhile to have a common bibliography so as to provide the reader with the opportunity to note the various opinions of contributors on works mentioned in more than one essay.

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for graduate students! And only graduate students! Seriously! It's just historiographical essays that are really helpful for passing your comps. So if you want to pass your comps read it. If you don't have comprehensive exams in your life, first thank whatever deity you prefer (I'm partial to Ashur, feather-robed archer of the Assyrian Pantheon), then never think about this book and just forget I ever mentioned it. If you are a graduate student in American history, read the whole darn thing. The end. I mean seriously. Eric freaking Foner and Lisa freaking McGirr took their sweet time to edit a volume of totally helpful essays to help us teeny little graduate students get a grip on the field. Don't let their time go to waste, fellow nerds. They probably would have done something cool with it. Big props to Foner and McGirr. Ok now the end.

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an American historian, having this around to refer to when thinking about other areas is definitely recommended.

[Mel]

Read Ch. 11, "American Religion," John McGreevy.

[Dwayne Pierce]

An excellent textbook.