Clashes Of Will: Great Confrontations That Have Shaped Modern America

by John Broesamle, Anthony Arthur

Clashes of Wills is a collection of essays that explore the great confrontations of the United States since 1877, looking at eleven areas of controversy that are part of today's news, but whose sources lie in the past. By focusing on well-known people who represent these issues, the book creates stories that are selective, focused, and coherent, to paint a portrait of the United States in the past century and a half.

296 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2004

Reviews

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clashes of Will offers what I think is a unique look into the history of the United States since the Civil War. Each of its chapters describes a "clash" between two historical figures over important issues such as cultural assimilation, environmental conservation, and affirmative action. The book is clearly intended for use in classrooms, and while I guess it runs the risk of reducing U.S. history to a series of struggles between "great historical figures," it also delves into the lives and accomplishments of a lot of names that don't get much attention in typical history courses, like John Muir, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Phyllis Schlafly. I like to think I know more about history than the average American (maybe that's a low bar), but each chapter in this book taught me a lot about the last hundred and fifty years that I didn't already know.