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American History Now. Edited by Eric Foner and Lisa McGirr for the American Historical Association. Critical Perspectives on the Past. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, c. 2011. Pp. [xiv], 423. Paper, $34.95, ISBN 978-1-4399-0244-8; cloth, $89.50, ISBN 978-1-4399-0243-1.)
American History Now, edited by Eric Foner and Lisa McGirr, offers eighteen historiographical essays from some of the academy's foremost scholars. The volume, a thorough update of The New American History (Philadelphia, 1990; rev. ed., Philadelphia, 1997), also edited by Foner, charts the many ways recent scholarship has reshaped our understanding of the American story. The essays also demonstrate the considerable range and vitality of the field of American history.
American History Now is divided into two parts. Part 1, "Eras of the American Past," contains eight essays organized around chronological periods ranging from the colonial era to the recent past (post- 1973). Part 2, "Major Themes in the American Experience," not only takes a look at some time-honored areas of study that have continued to evolve, such as women's and gender history, African American history, and the study of immigration and ethnicity, but also explores other areas of research that have become increasingly central to explaining the American past: the history of American religion, cultural history, environmental history, and the history of American Indians. Other thematic essays demonstrate how certain areas of study have been redefined since the appearance...