The Gilded Age: Or the Hazard of New Functions

There are surprisingly few general histories of the time between the Civil War and the Progressive Period (ca. 1865-1900), famously labeled "the Gilded Age" by Mark Twain. For many Americans it is the dull period sandwiched between the two "great" presidents Lincoln and TR. Yet at no point in our history did more eligible voters turn out at elections (78% on average). The biggest strike in American history took place (the Great Railroad Strike of 1877). Americans passionately argued over the rise of big business, set themselves on a path toward imperial power, and established racial oppression, the legacy of which this country still has not fully comprehended. More Americans should know all of this. Mark Summers writes the way he lectures (I had the pleasure of taking his Civil War class at the University of Kentucky in the late 1990s): Clever, entertaining, with lots of juicy quotes that give you a real feeling for the time period and its people. Yet he never loses the necessary seriousness of the first-rate scholar underneath the comedian. Too bad the high price will keep many people from purchasing the book. My tip: order it through your local library.

As improbable as it might be, this book makes what many people consider the dullest period of American history come alive. I was one of Dr Summers' students at UK in the early 'nineties, and while he was one of the most aggravating and obnoxoious humans I've ever run across, he does know his stuff and he knows how to write.