Inventing American History and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
42 used & new from $6.94

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Inventing American History (Boston Review Books)
 
 
Start reading Inventing American History on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Inventing American History (Boston Review Books) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Constitution Center, Pete Seeger, Freedom Rising (more...)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

List Price: $14.95
Price: $11.21 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.74 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Thursday, November 12? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
34 new from $6.94 8 used from $10.08

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition $9.99 -- --
  Hardcover $11.21 $6.94 $10.08

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It by Les Leopold

Inventing American History (Boston Review Books) + The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History (Modern Library Chronicles)

Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History (Modern Library Chronicles)

by Margaret MacMillan
3.6 out of 5 stars (18)  $14.96
A New Literary History of America (Harvard University Press Reference Library)

A New Literary History of America (Harvard University Press Reference Library)

by Greil Marcus
3.5 out of 5 stars (8)  $32.97
Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 (American History)

Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 (American History)

by Jackson Lears
3.6 out of 5 stars (9)  $18.47
The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty

The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty

by William Hogeland
3.7 out of 5 stars (22)  $10.26
Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court

Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court

by James MacGregor Burns
3.5 out of 5 stars (16)  $18.45
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

American public history—in magazines and books, television documentaries, and museums—tends to celebrate its subject at all costs, even to the point of denial and distortion. This does us a great disservice, argues William Hogeland in Inventing American History. Looking at details glossed over in three examples of public history—the Alexander Hamilton revival, tributes to Pete Seeger and William F. Buckley, and the Constitution Center in Philadelphia—Hogeland considers what we lose when history is written to conform to political aims.

Questioning the resurrection, by both neocons and the left, of Alexander Hamilton as the founder of the American financial system—if not of the American dream itself—Hogeland delves deeply into Hamilton's brutal treatment of working-class entrepreneurs. And debunking recent hagiographies of Pete Seeger and William F. Buckley, Hogeland deftly parses Seeger's embrace of communism and Buckley's unreconstructed views on race.

Hogeland then turns his attention to the U.S. Constitution Center in Philadelphia (the location of Barack Obama's speech on race), comparing its one-note celebration of the document to the National Park Service tours of nearby Independence Hall. The Park Service tours don't advance any particular point of view, but by being almost purely informative with a kind of hands-on detail, they make the past come to life, available for both celebration and criticism. We should be able to respect the Constitution without being forced to our knees before it, Hogeland argues; we can handle the truth about the Framers' intense politicking and compromises. Only when we can ground our public history in the gritty events of the day, embracing its contradictions and difficulties, will we be able to learn from it.

Praise for William Hogeland:

"For William Hogeland, thinking about history is an act of moral inquiry and high citizenship. A searching and original voice."
Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland

"Hogeland writes like a novelist, reports like a newsman (he is one,) and makes [the] historic judgments of a man who has done his homework."
Blue Ridge Business Journal

A Boston Review Book


About the Author

William Hogeland is author of The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: The MIT Press (April 30, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 026201288X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0262012881
  • Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #853,333 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

William Hogeland
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's William Hogeland Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Intriguing Reading, May 3, 2009
These essays all exhibit erudite scholarship, imaginative insights, a passionate involvement in American history and culture, and superb writing. Hogeland makes every page dramatic with telling details and little-known facts. Who would have imagined that two charismatic figures as disparate as William F. Buckley, Jr. and Pete Seeger had anything in common, but Hogeland's account of their often intentionally obscured early years elicits important similarities. And a walk with him through The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is eye-opening and somewhat disturbing.
I considered withholding one star from my rating only because I was frustrated that there were only three sections in this superb book. I wanted more!
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   




Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.