Description
Book SynopsisIn The Sum of Our Dreams, Louis P. Masur offers a sweeping yet compact history of America from its beginnings to the current moment. For general readers seeking an accessible, single-volume account, one that challenges but does not overwhelm, and which distills and connects the major events and figures in the country''s past in a single narrative, here is that book. Evoking Barack Obama''s belief that America remains the sum of its dreams, Masur locates the origin of those dreams-of freedom, equality, and opportunity-and traces their progress chronologically, illuminating the nation''s struggle over time to articulate and fulfill their promise. Moving from the Colonial Era, to the Revolutionary Period, the Early Republic, and through the Civil War, Masur turns his attention to Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Progressive Age, World War One, the Great Depression, World War Two, the Cold War, Civil Rights, Vietnam, and Watergate, and then laying out clearly and concisely what underlies the divisiveness that has characterized American civic life over the last forty years-and now more than ever. Above all, however, Masur lets the story of American tell itself. Inspired by James Baldwin''s observation that American history is longer, larger, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, he expands our notion of that history while identifying its individual threads. The Sum of Our Dreams will be the new go-to single volume for anyone wanting a foundational understanding of the nation''s past, and its present.
Trade ReviewGeneral readers will find Masur's book interesting, but its greatest value may be in its use as an undergraduate textbook, whose 11 well-written chapters, prologue, epilogue, and 36 well-chosen images (all well worth unpacking) make it easily accessible. * B. F. Le Beau, CHOICE *
Table of ContentsPrologue: "Land of Hope and Dreams" Chapter 1: To Plant and to Conquer Virginia Massachusetts New York Native Americans Seven Years War Chapter 2: If Men Were Angels Revolution Constitution Political Parties War of 1812 Missouri Compromise Chapter 3: Empire of Liberty Nullification Revival Removal Mexican-American War Westward Course of Empire Chapter 4: A Higher Law Compromise Abolition Bleeding Kansas Dred Scott John Brown's Raid Chapter 5: Government of the People Secession Civil War Emancipation Home Fronts Reconstruction Chapter 6: Survival of the Fittest Corruption Competition Cooperation Frontiers Imperialism Chapter 7: Land of Promise Immigration Progressivism Segregation Socialism World War I Chapter 8: This New Battle Prohibition Depression Dust Bowl New Deal WW II Chapter 9: Blowin' in the Wind Consumerism Cold War Civil Rights Counterculture Vietnam Chapter 10: Government is the Problem Watergate The Great Inflation New Right New Democrat New World Order Chapter 11: The Change That We Seek War on Terror Globalization Vote for Change Social Media American Ideals Epilogue: "Let America Be America Again"
