The New American History

This is really an invaluable book for history scolars as it lays out the "current state" of U.S. history in a multitude of topics. Admittedly, I went to a left leaning University a few years ago but almost all of my classes came almost straight from the essays in this book so it might not be entirely represetative of the state of historical debate. I foudn the most interesting parts of the book to be the historiorahpic analysis--that is, how the study of a particuolar subject has changed over years with the times. For example, until the civil rights movement of the 1960's, the reconstruction period of the 1860's and 70's was seen as an unmitigated disaster where uncompetant freedmen were set up in governments to run the south with Northern military support. This interpretation of course served a country that still had segregated lunchcounters in 1960. However, recently, a much more nuanced interpretation has appeared led by such writers as Eric Foner (the writer of the chapter on Reconstruction) who place their own gloss on the Reconstruction movement which was undoubtedly infulenced by their own participation and sympathy with the "new left" movements of the 1960's. Also useful is each author cites the leading books in the field for their argument so it can produce a great reading list for any history buff that wishes to delve deeper into a particular subject.