Academic : History : United States : General

Covering the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War, The Americans: The National Experience the second volume of Daniel Boorstin's award-winning trilogy, examines the realities of everyday life for the early pioneers as well as for those living in the established population centers on the Atlantic coast. more...

Price: $7.99

Farsighted and fascinating predictions for a new world order in which America is no longer number oneMoving beyond Fareed Zakaria’s bestselling The Post- American World, veteran international correspondent Paul Starobin masterfully mixes fresh reportage with rigorous historical analysis to envision a world in which the United States is no longer the dominant superpower. The American Century has passed, argues Starobin, due in large part to America’s military overreach in the Middle East; resurgent nationalism and economic expansion in Russia, China, and India; the tarnished American model of unfettered free-market capitalism; and the growth of transnational cultural, political, and economic institutions.Following an insightful analysis of America’s global ascendancy, Starobin explores five possible scenarios for the future: an age of chaos like the one following the collapse of the Roman Empire; a multipolar order of nations in which America would be one great power among others; China becoming the dominant superpower; an age of global city-states; or a form of world government. A concluding section of the book explores how California—the eighth largest economy in the world and demographically and technologically among the most sophisticated spots on the planet—is already starting to move beyond the American Century. Thought provoking and well argued, After America serves as an urgent catalyst to discussing America’s evolving role in a dramatically changing world. Starobin’s tone is sober but in the end hopeful—the world after America need not be a disaster for America, and it might even be liberating. more...

Price: $26.95

Few historians are bold enough to go after America's sacred cows in their very own pastures. But Michael Zuckerman is no ordinary historian, and this collection of his essays is no ordinary book. In his effort to remake the meaning of the American tradition, Zuckerman takes the entire sweep of American history for his province. more...

Price: $12.95

In this controversial critique of American political culture and its historical roots, Anatol Lieven contends that U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 has been shaped by the special character of our nationalism. Within that nationalism, Lieven analyses two very different traditions. One is the "American thesis," a civic nationalism based on the democratic values of what has been called the "American Creed." These values are held to be universal, and anyone can become an American by adopting them. The other tradition, the "American antithesis" is a populist and often chauvinist nationalism, which tends to see America as a closed national culture and civilization threatened by a hostile and barbarous outside world. With America Right or Wrong, Lieven examines how these two antithetical impulses have played out in U.S. responses to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and in the nature of U.S. support for Israel. This hard-hitting critique directs a spotlight on the American political soul and on the curious mixture of chauvinism and idealism that has driven the Bush administration. more...

Price: $18.95

An interdisciplinary introduction to American culture for those taking American studies courses or modules, this textbook introduces the full range and variety of American culture from race to religion, gender to youth, and business to foreign policy. more...

Price: $36.95