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This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26Pulitzer Prize–winning author of G-Man and acclaimed historian Beverly Gage takes the ultimate road trip into the American past.
Ride along with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Beverly Gage as she travels the country to see the museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, reenactments, and souvenir shops where Americans learn—and fight—about our history. From the birth of the nation in Philadelphia to Disneyland and the California dream, This Land Is Your Land offers a guided tour of thirteen places and thirteen key moments that define America’s greatest successes and challenges.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a document that proclaimed the liberty and equality of all human beings, but produced a country that often failed to agree upon—or live up to—those ideals. This Land Is Your Land is for everyone who wants to find that history—to experience it and confront it, to celebrate it and condemn it—in the places where it happened.
Gage shows that Americans can face their past and still love their country. Toss the book in the back seat—or listen on audio with the windows down—and join the journey.
Ride along with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Beverly Gage as she travels the country to see the museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, reenactments, and souvenir shops where Americans learn—and fight—about our history. From the birth of the nation in Philadelphia to Disneyland and the California dream, This Land Is Your Land offers a guided tour of thirteen places and thirteen key moments that define America’s greatest successes and challenges.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a document that proclaimed the liberty and equality of all human beings, but produced a country that often failed to agree upon—or live up to—those ideals. This Land Is Your Land is for everyone who wants to find that history—to experience it and confront it, to celebrate it and condemn it—in the places where it happened.
Gage shows that Americans can face their past and still love their country. Toss the book in the back seat—or listen on audio with the windows down—and join the journey.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 7, 2026
18073 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 5, 2026
gage packs a lot into a short(ish) amount of pages—spanning from the revolutionary war to essentially present day. expect a wide breadth & not a ton of depth, in the sense that she’s covering 200+ years in 350 pages. definitely think the history buffs/history curious could get a lot out of this, but i did find myself dragging thru some of this.
i wish i had the maps that look like will be a part of the official published book!!
thank you netgalley & simon and shuster for the arc!!!
i wish i had the maps that look like will be a part of the official published book!!
thank you netgalley & simon and shuster for the arc!!!
February 21, 2026
Thoroughly enjoyable and educational. Gage strikes a great balance while reflecting on the historical tales connected to various locales on her road trip: a tone that is part narrative, part informative, providing meaningful background while describing her experiences at each site. And just enough humor and anecdote to increase palatability while still respecting historical significance. Loved it!
February 11, 2026
My thanks to the author, Simon and Schuster publishers, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review an ARC of this book.
I had read the author's Pulitzer-winning bio on J. Edgar Hoover a couple of years ago, and was curious to read this book. As a lover of history I was intrigued to have the opportunity to review.
While the writing is good, and some of the stories of places the author visited are interesting, I don't agree with a lot of her statements about the US being as "big and cruel" and our flag as being a "symbol of aggression." Very disappointing. Gage wants us all to feel bad about our country's treatment of Native Americans, African Americans, and any other group she feels were wronged.
That's her opinion and that's fine. But you can't erase history and it is that history that has made America the strongest nation in the world. We are not a perfect nation by any means, but it is what it is. Too bad this book didn't get the objective assessment of the Hoover biography.
I give the book 3/5 stars.
I had read the author's Pulitzer-winning bio on J. Edgar Hoover a couple of years ago, and was curious to read this book. As a lover of history I was intrigued to have the opportunity to review.
While the writing is good, and some of the stories of places the author visited are interesting, I don't agree with a lot of her statements about the US being as "big and cruel" and our flag as being a "symbol of aggression." Very disappointing. Gage wants us all to feel bad about our country's treatment of Native Americans, African Americans, and any other group she feels were wronged.
That's her opinion and that's fine. But you can't erase history and it is that history that has made America the strongest nation in the world. We are not a perfect nation by any means, but it is what it is. Too bad this book didn't get the objective assessment of the Hoover biography.
I give the book 3/5 stars.
March 18, 2026
ARC
It’s hard at this point to feel any sort of positive feelings through the United States in this time. But as the thesis of this book makes clear This land is your(my) land and it’s our land. This trip through history via Gage’s road trips makes you see how complicated and interesting our history can be. I find it fascinating to look at how some of our historical sites have had their own history of reconciling its original view of an event with a more accurate historical view. (examples being Mount Vernon/ Little Bighorn etc.)
Due to the nature of the book this is not an intensive look at these events rather a more surface level review. But I think it’s a great starting point as there are figures, locations I want to investigate further after reading. It can be funny especially when you hear some of her travel mishaps and surprise mention of a performer who I’ll keep undisclosed for now. But it can also leave you wrought especially in the locations of South regarding civil rights and the beginnings of the Trail of Tears.
I encourage people to read this or at the very least go out and participate in going to your local historical sites and bring our history for its good and bad into your life.
It’s hard at this point to feel any sort of positive feelings through the United States in this time. But as the thesis of this book makes clear This land is your(my) land and it’s our land. This trip through history via Gage’s road trips makes you see how complicated and interesting our history can be. I find it fascinating to look at how some of our historical sites have had their own history of reconciling its original view of an event with a more accurate historical view. (examples being Mount Vernon/ Little Bighorn etc.)
Due to the nature of the book this is not an intensive look at these events rather a more surface level review. But I think it’s a great starting point as there are figures, locations I want to investigate further after reading. It can be funny especially when you hear some of her travel mishaps and surprise mention of a performer who I’ll keep undisclosed for now. But it can also leave you wrought especially in the locations of South regarding civil rights and the beginnings of the Trail of Tears.
I encourage people to read this or at the very least go out and participate in going to your local historical sites and bring our history for its good and bad into your life.
February 14, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this wonderful book. I’m a huge history nerd and I love books that combine history and travel and this book definitely did it for me. The author touched on all of the things that I so deeply love and hope to visit more one day.
I love road trips and I love history, so this book was wonderful to me.
I’m only giving it a four stars as it is an advanced copy and I was not able to see a lot of the pictures and maps and stuff that the author intended to have her readers be able to view.
I love road trips and I love history, so this book was wonderful to me.
I’m only giving it a four stars as it is an advanced copy and I was not able to see a lot of the pictures and maps and stuff that the author intended to have her readers be able to view.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I like history and I love road trips, and though my explorations do include visiting historic sites, ofttimes it’s more about the trip than the destination. For Ms. Gage, at least in this book, it’s the other way around and we are enriched. We get an academic's assessment of selected histories, but it doesn't read like an academic text. Far from it, this is an nice read.
She packs a lot into each of the 13 chapters though the reader doesn't have the burden of unpacking because this is well-composed. A bit of trip background, some historical background, overviews of what she saw (and didn't see) with enough depth to both satisfy curiosity and plant seeds for further digging. Some of the most interesting road trips are the ones that involve detours, side excursions and her narrative has those. We get some off the selected path seemingly meandering but every time she ties it back neatly to her overall theme for the chapter, or at least subsection of the chapter. I think James Burke would be proud of her Connections.
History may be written by the victors, but she went to places where the losers still have their own narrative, true or not. Ms Gage swings her critical eye on the exhibits, installations, museums she visits and shares with us the progress and regress of social change on how events are portrayed, ignored, and yes, distorted. She says, "While I hit many history-saturated places, I skipped some others, including a few we tend to think of as especially 'historic.' There is no Boston, no New York City, no New Orleans, no Washington, D.C." I've lived in some of the places she recounts here, and visited several others, though I admit I don't have a lot of interest in battlefields and war memorials. And she gave me a few eyeopeners in some of the places with which I was more familiar than the average resident/visitor.
I like her writing style. I don’t, however, like the Notes style she used. End notes with semi-anchoring sentence fragments from somewhere in the text are frustrating to me. They are an unwelcome scavenger hunt dependent on my patience to go back through the text. (Digital forms do make it easier with a search function, but physical copies? Yeah, frustrating. ) But .... she makes up for it with Recommended Reading lists that connect where she got some information with sources available to the reader.
I received a digital review copy of an advance uncorrected reader's proof of this from the publisher, Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss, for which I am grateful. My copy did not have any of the maps that will be in the final copy and I would be curious to see them.
Some of my highlights and observations:
“Then I became a historian. As part of my academic training, I took a more tempered and realistic look at the United States, with all of its contradictions and injustices. I also learned to be skeptical of self-congratulatory narratives: progress, manifest destiny, shining-city-on-a-hill exceptionalism. Historians tend to be myth-busters.”
{I like that kind of myth-busting and I appreciate when someone else does it, especially with history.}
"What I did not expect was how intensely local so much of that history would be. Each chapter of the book describes a small group of people who happened to live in a certain place at a certain time—and who, for that fleeting moment, came to stand in for the nation at large."
"Philadelphia is not just about the history that happened there; it’s about the ways Americans have invented and reinvented that history over time"
{How many of the places described - and not touched on at all - here are reinventions?}
[on the Ohio Presidential Trail]
"That […] might not sound so interesting, but between the 1840s and the 1920s Ohio produced a lot of presidents. (Since you asked: Harrison, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, another Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Harding.)"
{now that I live in Ohio, perhaps I should check this out}
[on that particular thorn, Texas]
"Unlike Connecticut, Texas mandates that students actually learn about their state’s history.
Governor Greg Abbott thinks this history should be presented in 'heroic' form, without the 'political correctness' that has allegedly infected so many history books in recent years."
{Don’t get me started on Abbott and cronies, and that insufferable Texan attitude.}
[on tourist merch distorted by gun images or slogans adjunct to the "I was there" point of the tourist merch]
"I get it: Guns are a big deal in Texas. And to be fair, similar merchandise is sold at other historic sites too. But I’ve never understood why today’s aggressive gun politics should get to own all that history."
{Oh, my, but I do like how she phrased that.}
[on the 1846 Mexican War]
" Decades later, another general-turned-president, Ulysses S. Grant, looked back on the Mexican War as 'one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.' He believed that the crisis that followed—including the Civil War itself—was 'punishment' for seizing Texas and making it American."
{uh oh. Fast forward 180 years...}
[Chicago]
"Many of Chicago’s top destinations date back to the era of the Columbian Expo, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Newberry Library, the University of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Burnham’s Orchestra Hall. Chicago also contains the remnants of institutions built in an effort to answer the era’s social question. On the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, students and visitors can stop by Hull House, the influential “settlement house” established in 1889 by reformers Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, who believed that everyone—even the city’s poorest and newest residents—deserved access to the good life that modern industrial society had to offer."
{I really need to go back to Chicago and check out more than the Art Institute.}
[In Atlanta]
"While reading about all this [Stone Mountain, the community, state laws and how they've changed] in preparation for my return visit, I learned that I was going to be in Stone Mountain the day after Confederate Memorial Day—[…]"
{Wait, wtf? This is still a thing? Okay, dig a little and I see that it isn't a state recognized event in Geaorgia anymore, but it still is in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. This is my surprised face.}
[on trying to talk to people at Stone Mountain about that ...observance]
"As several Sons [of the Confederacy] acknowledged, they had been instructed not to speak with the press—or even, apparently, with itinerant history teachers."
[on future National Parks development]
"The National Park Service has announced plans to invest $10 million in downtown Selma."
{Ms. Gage mentions the NPS planning to spend several many million$ in a couple of places. This book hasn't been published yet, so a caveat might be appropriate (“although the agency’s funding has been cut significantly in 2025 and these projects may have been cut.” She does acknowledge the program cuts to the NPS and other institutions in her Epilogue.}
[on a frustrating to me fact of unbalanced disparity]
"When Reagan was president in the 1980s, the population of Orange County was about two million people. Today it’s more than three million, making it the sixth most populous county in the United States, home to about the same number of people as Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas combined."
{And those states account for four times the senatorial representation that OC shares with 36 million other Californians.}
[on Disney's Carousel of Progress]
"The Carousel appeared as Progressland in the GE pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, one of the last American extravaganzas of its kind."
{I saw it! I was not quite four years old when my parent took me there (from tiny Montville Connecticut). I remember that, Borden's Elsie the Cow, Michaelangelo's The Pieta, and the Sinclair dinosaurs.}
[on the semiquincentennial]
"Some people may choose not to celebrate at all, given the state of things. But that’s a shame, since most of us do have to live in this country and might as well figure out which parts of it are worth cheering for. I hope this book has offered some ways to think about the nation and its history with room for criticism and optimism, patriotism and dissent, the highs and the lows."
{Hear, hear! We are witnessing erasure and rewriting unfold, but they should get to own all that history.}
She packs a lot into each of the 13 chapters though the reader doesn't have the burden of unpacking because this is well-composed. A bit of trip background, some historical background, overviews of what she saw (and didn't see) with enough depth to both satisfy curiosity and plant seeds for further digging. Some of the most interesting road trips are the ones that involve detours, side excursions and her narrative has those. We get some off the selected path seemingly meandering but every time she ties it back neatly to her overall theme for the chapter, or at least subsection of the chapter. I think James Burke would be proud of her Connections.
History may be written by the victors, but she went to places where the losers still have their own narrative, true or not. Ms Gage swings her critical eye on the exhibits, installations, museums she visits and shares with us the progress and regress of social change on how events are portrayed, ignored, and yes, distorted. She says, "While I hit many history-saturated places, I skipped some others, including a few we tend to think of as especially 'historic.' There is no Boston, no New York City, no New Orleans, no Washington, D.C." I've lived in some of the places she recounts here, and visited several others, though I admit I don't have a lot of interest in battlefields and war memorials. And she gave me a few eyeopeners in some of the places with which I was more familiar than the average resident/visitor.
I like her writing style. I don’t, however, like the Notes style she used. End notes with semi-anchoring sentence fragments from somewhere in the text are frustrating to me. They are an unwelcome scavenger hunt dependent on my patience to go back through the text. (Digital forms do make it easier with a search function, but physical copies? Yeah, frustrating. ) But .... she makes up for it with Recommended Reading lists that connect where she got some information with sources available to the reader.
I received a digital review copy of an advance uncorrected reader's proof of this from the publisher, Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss, for which I am grateful. My copy did not have any of the maps that will be in the final copy and I would be curious to see them.
Some of my highlights and observations:
“Then I became a historian. As part of my academic training, I took a more tempered and realistic look at the United States, with all of its contradictions and injustices. I also learned to be skeptical of self-congratulatory narratives: progress, manifest destiny, shining-city-on-a-hill exceptionalism. Historians tend to be myth-busters.”
{I like that kind of myth-busting and I appreciate when someone else does it, especially with history.}
"What I did not expect was how intensely local so much of that history would be. Each chapter of the book describes a small group of people who happened to live in a certain place at a certain time—and who, for that fleeting moment, came to stand in for the nation at large."
"Philadelphia is not just about the history that happened there; it’s about the ways Americans have invented and reinvented that history over time"
{How many of the places described - and not touched on at all - here are reinventions?}
[on the Ohio Presidential Trail]
"That […] might not sound so interesting, but between the 1840s and the 1920s Ohio produced a lot of presidents. (Since you asked: Harrison, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, another Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Harding.)"
{now that I live in Ohio, perhaps I should check this out}
[on that particular thorn, Texas]
"Unlike Connecticut, Texas mandates that students actually learn about their state’s history.
Governor Greg Abbott thinks this history should be presented in 'heroic' form, without the 'political correctness' that has allegedly infected so many history books in recent years."
{Don’t get me started on Abbott and cronies, and that insufferable Texan attitude.}
[on tourist merch distorted by gun images or slogans adjunct to the "I was there" point of the tourist merch]
"I get it: Guns are a big deal in Texas. And to be fair, similar merchandise is sold at other historic sites too. But I’ve never understood why today’s aggressive gun politics should get to own all that history."
{Oh, my, but I do like how she phrased that.}
[on the 1846 Mexican War]
" Decades later, another general-turned-president, Ulysses S. Grant, looked back on the Mexican War as 'one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.' He believed that the crisis that followed—including the Civil War itself—was 'punishment' for seizing Texas and making it American."
{uh oh. Fast forward 180 years...}
[Chicago]
"Many of Chicago’s top destinations date back to the era of the Columbian Expo, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Newberry Library, the University of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Burnham’s Orchestra Hall. Chicago also contains the remnants of institutions built in an effort to answer the era’s social question. On the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, students and visitors can stop by Hull House, the influential “settlement house” established in 1889 by reformers Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, who believed that everyone—even the city’s poorest and newest residents—deserved access to the good life that modern industrial society had to offer."
{I really need to go back to Chicago and check out more than the Art Institute.}
[In Atlanta]
"While reading about all this [Stone Mountain, the community, state laws and how they've changed] in preparation for my return visit, I learned that I was going to be in Stone Mountain the day after Confederate Memorial Day—[…]"
{Wait, wtf? This is still a thing? Okay, dig a little and I see that it isn't a state recognized event in Geaorgia anymore, but it still is in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. This is my surprised face.}
[on trying to talk to people at Stone Mountain about that ...observance]
"As several Sons [of the Confederacy] acknowledged, they had been instructed not to speak with the press—or even, apparently, with itinerant history teachers."
[on future National Parks development]
"The National Park Service has announced plans to invest $10 million in downtown Selma."
{Ms. Gage mentions the NPS planning to spend several many million$ in a couple of places. This book hasn't been published yet, so a caveat might be appropriate (“although the agency’s funding has been cut significantly in 2025 and these projects may have been cut.” She does acknowledge the program cuts to the NPS and other institutions in her Epilogue.}
[on a frustrating to me fact of unbalanced disparity]
"When Reagan was president in the 1980s, the population of Orange County was about two million people. Today it’s more than three million, making it the sixth most populous county in the United States, home to about the same number of people as Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas combined."
{And those states account for four times the senatorial representation that OC shares with 36 million other Californians.}
[on Disney's Carousel of Progress]
"The Carousel appeared as Progressland in the GE pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, one of the last American extravaganzas of its kind."
{I saw it! I was not quite four years old when my parent took me there (from tiny Montville Connecticut). I remember that, Borden's Elsie the Cow, Michaelangelo's The Pieta, and the Sinclair dinosaurs.}
[on the semiquincentennial]
"Some people may choose not to celebrate at all, given the state of things. But that’s a shame, since most of us do have to live in this country and might as well figure out which parts of it are worth cheering for. I hope this book has offered some ways to think about the nation and its history with room for criticism and optimism, patriotism and dissent, the highs and the lows."
{Hear, hear! We are witnessing erasure and rewriting unfold, but they should get to own all that history.}
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The premise of this book is really interesting and Beverly Gage's background as a historian sets her up really well to narrate her road trip and give readers the necessary background and connect why these 13 sites are important to the present day.
I think this book is a great way to celebrate the USA's 250th birthday. In 2026, it's difficult for many of us to be proud to be American. I love the diversity of culture and the beautiful changing landscapes, and so much more, but the past (and many times present) is always lurking in the back of my mind.
I think Gage finds a great balance between being proud of the achievements and freedom fought by those that came before us as well as confronting the systemic issues that have been perpetrated for literal centuries.
I think this book is a great way to celebrate the USA's 250th birthday. In 2026, it's difficult for many of us to be proud to be American. I love the diversity of culture and the beautiful changing landscapes, and so much more, but the past (and many times present) is always lurking in the back of my mind.
I think Gage finds a great balance between being proud of the achievements and freedom fought by those that came before us as well as confronting the systemic issues that have been perpetrated for literal centuries.
March 1, 2026
Many thanks to NetGalley, Mrs Gage and the publishing team for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.
Overall this book is a hit in my opinion. I loved it so much . The premise of readers following along on a road trip brings an element of fun that can sometimes be missed in nonfiction. Personally , I learned quite a few new bits of history and fun facts while reading . The author has an amazing ability to blend well known or textbook history stories, odds and ends learned on her journey and also the often overlooked or ignored uncomfortable stories . I already have plans to preorder a physical copy for myself and have recommended to friends .
Overall this book is a hit in my opinion. I loved it so much . The premise of readers following along on a road trip brings an element of fun that can sometimes be missed in nonfiction. Personally , I learned quite a few new bits of history and fun facts while reading . The author has an amazing ability to blend well known or textbook history stories, odds and ends learned on her journey and also the often overlooked or ignored uncomfortable stories . I already have plans to preorder a physical copy for myself and have recommended to friends .
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I really enjoyed this book! I really liked the familiar way that Beverly Gage wrote the book, it was kind of conversational, yet informative. She is a history professor irl, so this book is definitely an approachable way to inform readers about different historical events, people, and places across the country.
The road trip is less one long car trip and more several different smaller road trips through different regions in America across a couple years. I like that she visited some lesser known regions, like upstate New York - home of the women's rights movement (Seneca Falls) and up in Detroit/Dearborn, Michigan. I am from the general area, so the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village hold some memories for me. I really enjoyed reading her take on and the history of these attractions/sites that I grew up with.
I am impressed at Beverly Gage's undertaking while dealing with bumps along the way - like the fact that she was being treated for breast cancer through some of the research of this book!! I would have really liked to read about places she could have gone to if not for car trouble or sickness. This book seems like a labor of love and I really appreciate that. I love books that talk about lesser known American history and this was a fantastic example of that.
This book is already on some lists of "most looked forward to non fiction books of 2026" for good reason. That's how I found it! I am so glad I stumbled upon it. I learned a lot about this country, it's lesser known places and people that I live in that I have seen a woefully small amount of. This Land is Your Land is definitely a five star read for me!
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The road trip is less one long car trip and more several different smaller road trips through different regions in America across a couple years. I like that she visited some lesser known regions, like upstate New York - home of the women's rights movement (Seneca Falls) and up in Detroit/Dearborn, Michigan. I am from the general area, so the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village hold some memories for me. I really enjoyed reading her take on and the history of these attractions/sites that I grew up with.
I am impressed at Beverly Gage's undertaking while dealing with bumps along the way - like the fact that she was being treated for breast cancer through some of the research of this book!! I would have really liked to read about places she could have gone to if not for car trouble or sickness. This book seems like a labor of love and I really appreciate that. I love books that talk about lesser known American history and this was a fantastic example of that.
This book is already on some lists of "most looked forward to non fiction books of 2026" for good reason. That's how I found it! I am so glad I stumbled upon it. I learned a lot about this country, it's lesser known places and people that I live in that I have seen a woefully small amount of. This Land is Your Land is definitely a five star read for me!
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 17, 2026
Beverly Gage takes us on a journey through the forgotten and lesser-known parts of American history. Engaging, humorous, and rigorously researched, this book is a modern classic and almost unputdownable. Highly recommended.
I received an ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Beverly Gage really said, what if we processed 250 years of American chaos… but from the front seat of a slightly unreliable Subaru. And honestly? Respect.
This Land Is Your Land is structured as a series of road trips to thirteen historic sites, each tied to a key moment in American history, starting with the early republic and rolling all the way into the culture wars of California and Disneyland. It is part travelogue, part historiography, part existential spiral about what it even means to love a country that has absolutely fumbled the bag multiple times. Which, frankly, feels extremely on brand for America.
Gage kicks things off in Philadelphia, in the shadow of Washington and the founding fathers, and she does not let them off the hook. Yes, liberty. Yes, equality. Also, several of the guys who wrote those words were enslavers. The cognitive dissonance is strong, and she leans into it. The whole book wrestles with that tension, the soaring ideals versus the historical receipts. It is not patriotic fan fiction. It is more like patriotic couples therapy where one partner has a very long list of grievances and the other is waving a tiny flag.
Then we’re off to places like Seneca Falls for the women’s rights movement, Detroit and Dearborn for Henry Ford’s industrial empire, Stone Mountain for the Confederacy’s extremely awkward legacy, and the Alamo where Texas history is treated like a Marvel origin story with better merchandising. She digs into the Mexican War, the Trail of Tears, Civil Rights landmarks, Japanese American incarceration during World War II, and even the atomic age, complete with a night in a restored missile silo. Yes. She voluntarily slept in a missile silo. That is either peak historian energy or the cold open of a thriller.
One of the most fascinating threads is how these sites present history. Museums evolve. Interpretations shift. Some places confront their uglier pasts head on. Others curate strategically. Gage is especially sharp when she talks about how narratives are shaped over time, who gets centered, who gets sidelined, and how public memory is constantly being negotiated. History is not static. It is an argument with gift shops.
Her chapter on Henry Ford is a perfect example of this tightrope walk. She acknowledges the innovation, the industrial transformation, the reshaping of the American middle class. And then she calmly reminds us that Ford was openly antisemitic and accepted a medal from Nazi Germany. The whiplash is intentional. Progress and prejudice are often roommates in American history, and she refuses to pretend otherwise. It is uncomfortable, but in a way that feels intellectually honest rather than self-righteous.
That said, this book is wide. Like spanning-two-centuries-in-350-pages wide. It is very much a breadth over depth situation. Some chapters feel immersive and personal, especially when she’s describing her travels and the oddball roadside stops. Other sections lean denser and more academic. There were moments I felt like I was cramming for an AP U.S. History exam I did not knowingly enroll in. My brain was flipping through flashcards while my heart just wanted to vibe in the passenger seat.
What I appreciated most is that she never fully surrenders to cynicism. She is clear-eyed about slavery, Indigenous displacement, racial violence, internment camps, labor struggles, all of it. She even calls out how national symbols can be used aggressively in certain contexts, which understandably ruffles feathers. But she also lands on this note of complicated hope. The idea that you can critique your country and still claim it. That loving a place does not require lying about it.
The emotional undercurrent surprised me. Beneath the historical analysis is this quiet question: How do we live here, together, knowing all of this? As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches, the book feels timely in a way that is both inspiring and slightly overwhelming. It invites you to celebrate and condemn in the same breath. Which, honestly, is the most American experience possible.
Did I wish for a slightly stronger central thread tying every stop together? Yes. Did I occasionally side-eye how often the Subaru showed up like a recurring side character with main character aspirations? Also yes. But I still came away more informed, more reflective, and weirdly tempted to plan my own chaotic historical road trip.
Three and a half stars. Smart, thoughtful, occasionally dense, but undeniably meaningful.
And a big thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. Nothing says “light reading” like confronting 250 years of national identity before your morning coffee.
This Land Is Your Land is structured as a series of road trips to thirteen historic sites, each tied to a key moment in American history, starting with the early republic and rolling all the way into the culture wars of California and Disneyland. It is part travelogue, part historiography, part existential spiral about what it even means to love a country that has absolutely fumbled the bag multiple times. Which, frankly, feels extremely on brand for America.
Gage kicks things off in Philadelphia, in the shadow of Washington and the founding fathers, and she does not let them off the hook. Yes, liberty. Yes, equality. Also, several of the guys who wrote those words were enslavers. The cognitive dissonance is strong, and she leans into it. The whole book wrestles with that tension, the soaring ideals versus the historical receipts. It is not patriotic fan fiction. It is more like patriotic couples therapy where one partner has a very long list of grievances and the other is waving a tiny flag.
Then we’re off to places like Seneca Falls for the women’s rights movement, Detroit and Dearborn for Henry Ford’s industrial empire, Stone Mountain for the Confederacy’s extremely awkward legacy, and the Alamo where Texas history is treated like a Marvel origin story with better merchandising. She digs into the Mexican War, the Trail of Tears, Civil Rights landmarks, Japanese American incarceration during World War II, and even the atomic age, complete with a night in a restored missile silo. Yes. She voluntarily slept in a missile silo. That is either peak historian energy or the cold open of a thriller.
One of the most fascinating threads is how these sites present history. Museums evolve. Interpretations shift. Some places confront their uglier pasts head on. Others curate strategically. Gage is especially sharp when she talks about how narratives are shaped over time, who gets centered, who gets sidelined, and how public memory is constantly being negotiated. History is not static. It is an argument with gift shops.
Her chapter on Henry Ford is a perfect example of this tightrope walk. She acknowledges the innovation, the industrial transformation, the reshaping of the American middle class. And then she calmly reminds us that Ford was openly antisemitic and accepted a medal from Nazi Germany. The whiplash is intentional. Progress and prejudice are often roommates in American history, and she refuses to pretend otherwise. It is uncomfortable, but in a way that feels intellectually honest rather than self-righteous.
That said, this book is wide. Like spanning-two-centuries-in-350-pages wide. It is very much a breadth over depth situation. Some chapters feel immersive and personal, especially when she’s describing her travels and the oddball roadside stops. Other sections lean denser and more academic. There were moments I felt like I was cramming for an AP U.S. History exam I did not knowingly enroll in. My brain was flipping through flashcards while my heart just wanted to vibe in the passenger seat.
What I appreciated most is that she never fully surrenders to cynicism. She is clear-eyed about slavery, Indigenous displacement, racial violence, internment camps, labor struggles, all of it. She even calls out how national symbols can be used aggressively in certain contexts, which understandably ruffles feathers. But she also lands on this note of complicated hope. The idea that you can critique your country and still claim it. That loving a place does not require lying about it.
The emotional undercurrent surprised me. Beneath the historical analysis is this quiet question: How do we live here, together, knowing all of this? As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches, the book feels timely in a way that is both inspiring and slightly overwhelming. It invites you to celebrate and condemn in the same breath. Which, honestly, is the most American experience possible.
Did I wish for a slightly stronger central thread tying every stop together? Yes. Did I occasionally side-eye how often the Subaru showed up like a recurring side character with main character aspirations? Also yes. But I still came away more informed, more reflective, and weirdly tempted to plan my own chaotic historical road trip.
Three and a half stars. Smart, thoughtful, occasionally dense, but undeniably meaningful.
And a big thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. Nothing says “light reading” like confronting 250 years of national identity before your morning coffee.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
If you have time to read just one book this year, this is an excellent choice.
Beverly Gage is a professor of history at Yale University. She could easily write a massive book with her knowledge. Yet, she decided to take a different approach with a road trip visiting historic sites including museums, battlefields, parks, monuments and roadside attractions. They’re not necessarily your normal tourist places which makes it more interesting.
The book starts with President Washington in 1789. She shares some of the immense amount of history with the 13 colonies. She covers distressing parts with the slaughter of thousands of Native Americans to obtain their land, the war on Mexico in 1846 and the sad treatment of slaves. In later chapters, she includes Martin Luther King and his powerful speeches.
She covers Henry Ford’s progressive car manufacturer and how he brought immigrants to work in the Detroit area factories. It became well known that Ford was antisemitic supporting Hitler. Sadly, five protesters were killed.
The author addresses how the federal government developed military programs to create special weapons at different places in the country. She touches on Oppenheimer’s work with the team on the atomic bomb. Rather than stay at a nice hotel or camping ground, she decided to experience a night in a restored missile silo in New Mexico.
The federal government hasn’t been kind to immigrants. During the war, American citizens who happened to be Japanese were sent to “prison camps’ in the early 1940s. We can’t read about this without thinking we are all immigrants and how many groups have been unfairly treated.
And finally, she reviews the politics of California with the conservative southern side of Presidents Nixon and Reagan while northern liberal groups were promoting equal rights for women and gays as well as free speech. At the same time, Black Panthers were fighting about police brutality and poverty.
Our past history as noted has many parts that are disturbing. There’s a great deal about racial injustice. When will we learn? Throughout the book she adds photos and at the end, there is an extensive list of recommended books. It’s no wonder she is a scholar. Yet, she writes as if you were listening to a friendly person at a coffee shop who shares what she knows.
She said that the powerful people in Washington want to suppress history but do they understand it? There are many ways of looking at the cruelty over the years: truth or the blind eye? I could feel it when she said “hope” at the end for a better future. Isn’t that what most of us want?
My thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of April 7, 2026. My views I share are my own.
Beverly Gage is a professor of history at Yale University. She could easily write a massive book with her knowledge. Yet, she decided to take a different approach with a road trip visiting historic sites including museums, battlefields, parks, monuments and roadside attractions. They’re not necessarily your normal tourist places which makes it more interesting.
The book starts with President Washington in 1789. She shares some of the immense amount of history with the 13 colonies. She covers distressing parts with the slaughter of thousands of Native Americans to obtain their land, the war on Mexico in 1846 and the sad treatment of slaves. In later chapters, she includes Martin Luther King and his powerful speeches.
She covers Henry Ford’s progressive car manufacturer and how he brought immigrants to work in the Detroit area factories. It became well known that Ford was antisemitic supporting Hitler. Sadly, five protesters were killed.
The author addresses how the federal government developed military programs to create special weapons at different places in the country. She touches on Oppenheimer’s work with the team on the atomic bomb. Rather than stay at a nice hotel or camping ground, she decided to experience a night in a restored missile silo in New Mexico.
The federal government hasn’t been kind to immigrants. During the war, American citizens who happened to be Japanese were sent to “prison camps’ in the early 1940s. We can’t read about this without thinking we are all immigrants and how many groups have been unfairly treated.
And finally, she reviews the politics of California with the conservative southern side of Presidents Nixon and Reagan while northern liberal groups were promoting equal rights for women and gays as well as free speech. At the same time, Black Panthers were fighting about police brutality and poverty.
Our past history as noted has many parts that are disturbing. There’s a great deal about racial injustice. When will we learn? Throughout the book she adds photos and at the end, there is an extensive list of recommended books. It’s no wonder she is a scholar. Yet, she writes as if you were listening to a friendly person at a coffee shop who shares what she knows.
She said that the powerful people in Washington want to suppress history but do they understand it? There are many ways of looking at the cruelty over the years: truth or the blind eye? I could feel it when she said “hope” at the end for a better future. Isn’t that what most of us want?
My thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of April 7, 2026. My views I share are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you History in Five/Simon & Schuster for my advanced eARC via NetGalley. These thoughts are my own:
Humans have always found ways to interpret history, and to argue about their interpretations. As it seems that more and more our built systems (social media, news media, political structures) feed into the false dichotomy of "veneration or damnation" of history and the people who lived and made it. This book is an attempt--and I would argue that it is a successful one--to really engage with and try to understand the layers and nuances of those who lived and experienced it here in the United States. This is part travelogue and part history lesson, as Gage gets out there and sees history as it's being interpreted by and for people in 13 different places in what is now the continental USA. She intentionally frames the beginning and end of her study around the nation's Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026, though I see her making an effort (again, successfully) to engage with other narratives that begin and end at different points--history doesn't happen in a vacuum. Each chapter is set in a place and time of significance to the historical narrative, and as we accompany her on her zig-zagging road trip different perspectives emerge and join in. I particularly appreciated that she made this a "regular person's" road trip: she only went to places and participated in tours and other experiences that anyone could access, rather than getting special behind-the-scenes author treatment. This made her road trip all the easier to participate in vicariously, because (like any good experiment) it is replicable. And that's what impressed me most about the book too: how approachable the narrative is. I don't need to be a historian (or even someone from the US) to understand and appreciate what she shares here. I just need to be a person, experiencing my own perspective of history as I live it in my normal life.
Humans have always found ways to interpret history, and to argue about their interpretations. As it seems that more and more our built systems (social media, news media, political structures) feed into the false dichotomy of "veneration or damnation" of history and the people who lived and made it. This book is an attempt--and I would argue that it is a successful one--to really engage with and try to understand the layers and nuances of those who lived and experienced it here in the United States. This is part travelogue and part history lesson, as Gage gets out there and sees history as it's being interpreted by and for people in 13 different places in what is now the continental USA. She intentionally frames the beginning and end of her study around the nation's Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026, though I see her making an effort (again, successfully) to engage with other narratives that begin and end at different points--history doesn't happen in a vacuum. Each chapter is set in a place and time of significance to the historical narrative, and as we accompany her on her zig-zagging road trip different perspectives emerge and join in. I particularly appreciated that she made this a "regular person's" road trip: she only went to places and participated in tours and other experiences that anyone could access, rather than getting special behind-the-scenes author treatment. This made her road trip all the easier to participate in vicariously, because (like any good experiment) it is replicable. And that's what impressed me most about the book too: how approachable the narrative is. I don't need to be a historian (or even someone from the US) to understand and appreciate what she shares here. I just need to be a person, experiencing my own perspective of history as I live it in my normal life.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Unfortunately I wasn't a huge fan of This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History.
I think my expectations were a little different. We have an RV and love traveling our beautiful country; I thought this book would entice me to visit some locations that hadn't been on my radar.
The authors (not so trusty) Subaru was mentioned 7 times in the first 1/3 of the book and even mentioned in the Chapter Contents at the beginning. Definitely part of U.S. History ... eye roll emoji.
In my opinion the author was a little biased with her writing. Yes, Henry Ford had many flaws and accepted a medal from Hitler in 1938 ... but fails to mention that Subaru has roots as being a major manufacturer of aircraft for Japan during WWII. The author noted that the museum flow wasn't up to her standards; she thought it was backwards. But driving the Civil Rights Trail backwards wasn't an issue. And also interesting that the Rosa Parks bus wasn't mentioned in the section of the Henry Ford Museum, but it was mentioned with Civil Rights.
Between 2 and 3 stars for me, rounding up.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for approving my request to read the advance read copy of This Land is Your Land in exchange for an honest review.
Approx 352 pages, anticipated release is Apr 7, 2026.
I think my expectations were a little different. We have an RV and love traveling our beautiful country; I thought this book would entice me to visit some locations that hadn't been on my radar.
The authors (not so trusty) Subaru was mentioned 7 times in the first 1/3 of the book and even mentioned in the Chapter Contents at the beginning. Definitely part of U.S. History ... eye roll emoji.
In my opinion the author was a little biased with her writing. Yes, Henry Ford had many flaws and accepted a medal from Hitler in 1938 ... but fails to mention that Subaru has roots as being a major manufacturer of aircraft for Japan during WWII. The author noted that the museum flow wasn't up to her standards; she thought it was backwards. But driving the Civil Rights Trail backwards wasn't an issue. And also interesting that the Rosa Parks bus wasn't mentioned in the section of the Henry Ford Museum, but it was mentioned with Civil Rights.
Between 2 and 3 stars for me, rounding up.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for approving my request to read the advance read copy of This Land is Your Land in exchange for an honest review.
Approx 352 pages, anticipated release is Apr 7, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book was a delight to read, it is not a heavy history book, but it is deeply informative. The title represents the book well. I really enjoyed how this book was organized! It focused on a particular area and period of time per chapter, but it so smoothly works its way chronologically through history from one chapter to the next, going from one part of the country to another seamlessly. She covers so many notable events and ones that you may not have studied or remembered. It was an easy narrative to read but still packed full of information. This is also a timely book, coming up to America's 250th anniversary, so it is a good reminder of where we have come, what has happened throughout our history, to better think about where we want to go. This book avoids politics (appropriately so, it's just about reporting what happened, you can form your own opinions), the end emphasizes the need for each of us to remember that "this is our land", this is the only land we have, we have to live together here, so how do we want to move forward? Overall it was a positive book, leaving you feel more knowledgeable and empowered and proud.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC; these opinions are my own.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC; these opinions are my own.
March 25, 2026
The topics in this book are heavy, because history is full of racism, sexism, and a whole bunch of other isms that people like to ignore, gloss over, or rewrite. This book tackles how contradictory the founding fathers were from the get go “all men created equal” and then putting out a bounty for an escaped slave (looking at your George Washington). To how ingrained the south is with the confederacy and how it’s become entrenched in their morals and views. But there was also hope, stories of the underdog and a few good people. It took me a while to read because some of the topics were heavy and I just needed to put it down for a moment but that didn’t make this book any less important to read.
My only complaint is that a few things the author just assumed you knew about and kind of glossed over. But even that wasn’t huge (I’m talking about Teddy R.’s Rough Riders in particular) since they talked about more niche things that are typically ignored. They even brought up a trip they took to Russia and how the revolution was ignored and how it parallels to how the south talks about slavery.
Important read for conflicted Americans who love the mountains and landscape of this country but know the dark insidious side of politics ruins everything.
My only complaint is that a few things the author just assumed you knew about and kind of glossed over. But even that wasn’t huge (I’m talking about Teddy R.’s Rough Riders in particular) since they talked about more niche things that are typically ignored. They even brought up a trip they took to Russia and how the revolution was ignored and how it parallels to how the south talks about slavery.
Important read for conflicted Americans who love the mountains and landscape of this country but know the dark insidious side of politics ruins everything.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I have always been a history buff, and I especially love to read anything to do with American history. What I loved about this book was how Beverly Gage did not just go to all the old "tried and true" places from American history; she traveled off the beaten path to show us museums and historical sites that maybe one would not know about. Yet, in doing this, she also touched on many important events in American history. It was a road trip that I loved taking within the covers of a book! From the chapter where I learned about the Trail of Tears National Park to the one where I learned about the Phil Collins collection of Alamo memorabilia, this book was a fun road trip! I hope to use it for some of my next adventures, and I recommend many places to my daughter, who is doing a cross-country drive in a couple of weeks. And always remember, as Gage said, in the epilogue: "Plan ahead, but not too much....it's the wrong turns and unexpected places where you learn the most." The journey is what matters! Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
February 21, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!
This Land is Your Land tells the story of a historian’s journey across different landmarks and historical sites in the United States of America. In chronological order we journey along, starting with the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ending in Disneyland in California.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Gage taught me a lot about historic locations that I’ve never heard of before, as well as new information about the ones I was familiar with. It was a really easy read, with a pretty good pace which I find hard to come across in some nonfiction history books. I also liked how Gage would show lenses of history that I wasn’t taught in school. Usually, I learned about how things happened through a predominantly white lens and point of view. Gage showed history through Native American, Black, Chinese, and Japanese lenses of their experiences within these events in history. I also enjoyed how personal this book felt. Gage included a lot of her experiences with the travel itself and the people she came across at the locations she visited.
This Land is Your Land tells the story of a historian’s journey across different landmarks and historical sites in the United States of America. In chronological order we journey along, starting with the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ending in Disneyland in California.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Gage taught me a lot about historic locations that I’ve never heard of before, as well as new information about the ones I was familiar with. It was a really easy read, with a pretty good pace which I find hard to come across in some nonfiction history books. I also liked how Gage would show lenses of history that I wasn’t taught in school. Usually, I learned about how things happened through a predominantly white lens and point of view. Gage showed history through Native American, Black, Chinese, and Japanese lenses of their experiences within these events in history. I also enjoyed how personal this book felt. Gage included a lot of her experiences with the travel itself and the people she came across at the locations she visited.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Publishes April 7
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's well-written, informative, entertaining, and maintains a balance of examining important moments in United States history with the negative actions and challenges central to our history as well.
As author Beverly Gage notes, this book comes ahead of the 250th anniversary of the USA, and the myriad of complicated feelings various Americans feel about that.
In 13 chapters, Gage explores American history chronologically, recounting her travels to places like Philadelphia, the Deep South, Chicago, Detroit, and California. Topics explored include the American Revolution, slavery, Indigenous relations, labor history, and technological innovation, among other things.
Ultimately, I loved the ending of the book, where Gage encourages readers that the USA has been in big messes before, grown from them, learned and progressed. She affirms that notion of change and progress is intrinsically linked to American Ideals, even if some people fight against that.
You can love your country and still face its past; you can celebrate and condemn it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's well-written, informative, entertaining, and maintains a balance of examining important moments in United States history with the negative actions and challenges central to our history as well.
As author Beverly Gage notes, this book comes ahead of the 250th anniversary of the USA, and the myriad of complicated feelings various Americans feel about that.
In 13 chapters, Gage explores American history chronologically, recounting her travels to places like Philadelphia, the Deep South, Chicago, Detroit, and California. Topics explored include the American Revolution, slavery, Indigenous relations, labor history, and technological innovation, among other things.
Ultimately, I loved the ending of the book, where Gage encourages readers that the USA has been in big messes before, grown from them, learned and progressed. She affirms that notion of change and progress is intrinsically linked to American Ideals, even if some people fight against that.
You can love your country and still face its past; you can celebrate and condemn it.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I had high hopes for this book and did learn about many interesting monuments and historical tidbits along the way. However, what really soured the book for me was the author’s overt criticism and bias. The author, Beverly Gage, is a professor of history at Yale. She prioritizes opinion over facts. For example, she writes that the American flag is “deployed as a form of aggression.” Huh? Displaying love of country, in your country is aggressive? And, in the penultimate sentence of the book, she refers to the United States as “this big, cruel, and transcendent country of ours.” Interesting choice of adjectives. Almost every site she visited can be used as an option for a redress of grievances. Not a point of history as much as a reminder for national ignominy. Yes, history is fraught with horrific injustices. But, it is also replete with stories of glory and hope and it doesn’t make sense to market this book as a travel guide when it reads more as propaganda. I wouldn’t have read it if it were honest about its message.
This book is antithetical to the spirit, grit, and gratitude that built the United States. It is a heavy handed critique that attempts to negate what is wondrous about the country, and for all its faults, many still yearn to be a part of the American experiment. Yet, the rhetoric featured in this book tells us that we should feel incensed and ashamed of the very institutions that propelled the U. S. into becoming the paradigm of a free people. I don’t know how successful this book will become, but I feel that the political dogma contained in it will alienate a large swath of Americans. This Land Is Your Land, as a title, is a misnomer.
This book is antithetical to the spirit, grit, and gratitude that built the United States. It is a heavy handed critique that attempts to negate what is wondrous about the country, and for all its faults, many still yearn to be a part of the American experiment. Yet, the rhetoric featured in this book tells us that we should feel incensed and ashamed of the very institutions that propelled the U. S. into becoming the paradigm of a free people. I don’t know how successful this book will become, but I feel that the political dogma contained in it will alienate a large swath of Americans. This Land Is Your Land, as a title, is a misnomer.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
It’s been a decent while since I have enjoyed a nonfiction book as thoroughly as this one. Through the framing of various historic sites and landmarks, Beverly Gage skillfully illustrates the many multi-layered complexities of America’s past, and the numerous contradictions between its promise and the realities of what’s been delivered. Even though I love history and have already read more than a decent amount of it, I was able to learn a great deal from This Land is Your Land - not just an array of new details, but I also came away with a surprisingly sizable list of locations I now want to visit myself. I also appreciate the thoughtful timing of this work. I know I am just one of many, many Americans that currently feel like they have a painfully difficult relationship with their nation, and it’s nice to receive a clear thorough reminder that, simply put, things have always been complicated.
It’s been a decent while since I have enjoyed a nonfiction book as thoroughly as this one. Through the framing of various historic sites and landmarks, Beverly Gage skillfully illustrates the many multi-layered complexities of America’s past, and the numerous contradictions between its promise and the realities of what’s been delivered. Even though I love history and have already read more than a decent amount of it, I was able to learn a great deal from This Land is Your Land - not just an array of new details, but I also came away with a surprisingly sizable list of locations I now want to visit myself. I also appreciate the thoughtful timing of this work. I know I am just one of many, many Americans that currently feel like they have a painfully difficult relationship with their nation, and it’s nice to receive a clear thorough reminder that, simply put, things have always been complicated.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book truly feels like a road trip through America’s story, and I loved that Gage doesn’t just hit the big, well-known sites. She also doesn’t shy away from hard topics—slavery, America’s treatment of Indigenous peoples, and the complex questions around monuments and “celebrating” people with very complicated legacies. I appreciated how thoughtfully and honestly those conversations were handled.
I read this one slowly because I was learning so much and actually wanted it to sink in. By the end, though, I kind of felt like I could absolutely crush an American history category on Jeopardy. 😅
Honestly, Gage made me want to plan a historical road trip for fall break (apologies in advance to my 8-year-old, who will be deeply unimpressed). As we head toward America’s 250th birthday, this felt like a timely reminder that we can look honestly at our nation’s past—the highs and the lows—and still care deeply about where our country is headed.
I read this one slowly because I was learning so much and actually wanted it to sink in. By the end, though, I kind of felt like I could absolutely crush an American history category on Jeopardy. 😅
Honestly, Gage made me want to plan a historical road trip for fall break (apologies in advance to my 8-year-old, who will be deeply unimpressed). As we head toward America’s 250th birthday, this felt like a timely reminder that we can look honestly at our nation’s past—the highs and the lows—and still care deeply about where our country is headed.
February 28, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This was a thoroughly enjoyable, interesting, and insightful book. The author takes us along on her many road trips through known, but often forgotten, parts of America that helped shape our imperfect country. She manages to capture America’s dichotomous spirit while simultaneously conveying how lucky we are to live in a country like ours.
I’m not an eternal optimist, nor a die hard patriot. But I do know that living in the U.S. affords me way more privileges than living in other parts of the world ever would. Is that always a positive thing? No, and this book shows how some people benefited from certain policies and decisions at the expense of others in the history of our country.
Some chapters were definitely more engaging than others, but I always found value in what was written. This was a truly enjoyable book written by one of the few female historians to venture on road trips through America.
I’m not an eternal optimist, nor a die hard patriot. But I do know that living in the U.S. affords me way more privileges than living in other parts of the world ever would. Is that always a positive thing? No, and this book shows how some people benefited from certain policies and decisions at the expense of others in the history of our country.
Some chapters were definitely more engaging than others, but I always found value in what was written. This was a truly enjoyable book written by one of the few female historians to venture on road trips through America.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
When I saw that this book was about United States history in compact, road trip style format, I thought it sounded like so much fun to read. I think the author hit on a lot of the big moments in US history. Is this a complete summary of US history? Absolutely not. If that is what you’re looking for, this is not it. However, if you’re up for a fun, unique way of thinking about US history, this is definitely the book for you.
My favorite chapters to read were New York (abolition, birth of US feminist movement) and Charleston (Fort Sumter, creation and demise of the Confederacy).
I also learned a lot while reading the Chicago Pullman chapter. I lived in Chicago and didn’t know about the Pullman area. Now I want to go see what remains of it!
If you enjoy roadtrips, United States history, and learning something new, I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
My favorite chapters to read were New York (abolition, birth of US feminist movement) and Charleston (Fort Sumter, creation and demise of the Confederacy).
I also learned a lot while reading the Chicago Pullman chapter. I lived in Chicago and didn’t know about the Pullman area. Now I want to go see what remains of it!
If you enjoy roadtrips, United States history, and learning something new, I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a timely and balanced telling of American history with a fun spin: We are traveling through historic sites, both obvious and off the beaten path, in chronological order. The book takes an intersectional approach, offering not just ye olde rich white men's history, but also discussing pivotal events for women and minorities over the centuries. It's hard to remember why anyone would be proud to be an American these days, but I did appreciate the author's nuanced argument for believing in our country's future. When the history gets dense, it can get a little dry at times, so my favorite parts were the author's first-person accounts of her travels. Her narrative has a relatable humor to it, and I felt inspired to research ideas for my own solo travel. 4/5 stars!
March 26, 2026
Thank you to #Simon&Schuster and #NetGalley for the DRC of #ThisLandIsYourLand. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
I really enjoyed this history road trip by the author of G-Man. Gage visits about a dozen different cities/regions and digs into the people and events that make that place important to America's history - from the revolutionary and civil war to big industry and the civil rights movement. She visits a mix of museums, presidential libraries, national parks & monuments from coast to coast. It's not an exhaustive history lesson, but it's full of interesting facts and is likely to inspire some copycat road trips.
Overall a quick, fun, interesting and educational read.
I really enjoyed this history road trip by the author of G-Man. Gage visits about a dozen different cities/regions and digs into the people and events that make that place important to America's history - from the revolutionary and civil war to big industry and the civil rights movement. She visits a mix of museums, presidential libraries, national parks & monuments from coast to coast. It's not an exhaustive history lesson, but it's full of interesting facts and is likely to inspire some copycat road trips.
Overall a quick, fun, interesting and educational read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This Land Is Your Land by Beverly Gage isa book we need right now. In this brief tome, Gage takes the reader through a few of America's historical highlights, some that don't often make the tour. With a the lens of the historian that Gage is, she enlightens the reader with engaging prose and deftly reminds the reader how important it is to know your history. Hence why in this time when Dear Leader Tr*mp and his cabal of ignorant racists are doing their best to eradicate history, knowing our history is more important than ever. I appreciated the hopeful tone of Gage's book. Thank you to #netgalley and #simonandshuster for the opportunity to preview this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The author takes the approach of touring certain National Parks/Monuments in chronological order beginning with the founding of our country. She is very forthright in discussing both the good, the conflicted and the bad that took place at each location. She is a firm believer in that we should not eliminate controversial items from public display as they reinforce how far we have come as a nation. Overall, a good read and I recommend it to history buffs.
I received a free arc of this book courtesy to Net Galley and the Publisher in exchange for a review. I also posted it to Goodreads and Amazon.
I received a free arc of this book courtesy to Net Galley and the Publisher in exchange for a review. I also posted it to Goodreads and Amazon.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.75 stars
This engaging informal U.S. history hits seemingly random spots across the country via road trip, an entertaining notion. Historian Beverly Gage presents a lot of great factual and anecdotal information in a very accessible format.
The places listed are not necessarily related, and certainly not all inclusive, but they each explore an interesting time or setting. She covers everything from the Los Alamos nuclear site to presidential libraries and the civil rights Freedom Trail. This was a fun but also provocative read.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This engaging informal U.S. history hits seemingly random spots across the country via road trip, an entertaining notion. Historian Beverly Gage presents a lot of great factual and anecdotal information in a very accessible format.
The places listed are not necessarily related, and certainly not all inclusive, but they each explore an interesting time or setting. She covers everything from the Los Alamos nuclear site to presidential libraries and the civil rights Freedom Trail. This was a fun but also provocative read.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Gage is such an engaging writer - I love the way she chose to break the topics down in this book. I've seen someone else complain about the emphasis on Black history in this book, but I think Gage does a great job of laying out how Black history fits in and is covered (or not) in various historical sites. This is a huge topic in the history field nowadays, so I think it would have been ridiculous for her to try to ignore that.
I love how she chose her locations and what she had to share about the history of America throughout the history she traces.
Gage is such an engaging writer - I love the way she chose to break the topics down in this book. I've seen someone else complain about the emphasis on Black history in this book, but I think Gage does a great job of laying out how Black history fits in and is covered (or not) in various historical sites. This is a huge topic in the history field nowadays, so I think it would have been ridiculous for her to try to ignore that.
I love how she chose her locations and what she had to share about the history of America throughout the history she traces.
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