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Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: status thesis, postwar scholars, paranoid mind, New Deal, United States, New York (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Richard Hofstadter wrote several of the 20th century's most popular and important works of American history, but, as historian Brown reminds readers in this nuanced study, those works were as much a critique of the political culture of his own day as they were an analysis of the past. Offering brief, pointed readings of the Columbia-based thinker's books (The American Political Tradition; The Paranoid Style in American Politics) and analyses of his era's conflicts, Brown tracks Hofstadter's intellectual development as an undergraduate radical in Buffalo, an iconoclastic young professor rewriting the standard progressive history of the country, a liberal centrist at the apex of his profession and a vain protestor against the New Left and what he saw as its dangerous anti-intellectualism. As he makes a strong case for the relevance of Hofstadter's influential understanding of political conflict to contemporary society, Brown is attentive to his flaws, as well: most notably, his personal devotion to postwar, meritocratic liberalism often led him to apply and selectively develop his historical arguments. Although the Hofstadter estate's prohibition against quotation from his letters weakens the presentation of his inner life, Brown's thorough research has yielded plenty of well-chosen snippets from the words of Hofstadter's family, colleagues and students to flesh out this valuable intellectual portrait. Four halftones, not seen by PW.
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"Intelligent and stimulating... Brown admirably balances respect for his subject with critical distance and persuasively makes the case that the ambiguousness of Hofstadter's legacy is inseparable from his continuing interest.... At his best, Hofstadter remains vitally alive and endlessly instructive." - Sam Tanenhaus, New York Times Book Review "In this illuminating biography... [Brown] freshens the worn-out chronicle of postwar Upper West Side intelligentsia by retelling it from Hofstadter's playful, eternally skeptical, oddly uninflammatory point of view.... Above all, Brown helps readers assess Hofstadter as a member of a generation of American historians every bit as important as (and in some respects more so than) the well-known Progressive generation of Charles Beard, Frederick Jackson Turner, and Vernon Parrington." - Sean Wilentz, New Republic" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0226076407
  • ISBN-13: 978-0226076409
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #822,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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David S. Brown
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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status thesis, postwar scholars, paranoid mind
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New Deal, United States, New York, The American Political Tradition, Richard Hofstadter, The Progressive Historians, Harvey Swados, Social Darwinism, Party System, The Age of Reform, New Left, Morningside Heights, Merle Curti, Columbia University, Vann Woodward, Arthur Schlesinger, The Historian, Social Scientist, Far Right, The New American Political Tradition, The Crisis of Intellect, New Right, Alfred Knopf, Daniel Bell, Communist Party
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptionally Well-Balanced Biography , April 24, 2006
By Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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If you went to college and/or graduate school in the late 1950's or 1960's, chances are very good you read at least one of Richard Hofstadter's (1916-1970) books. Particularly "The American Political Tradition," "The Age of Reform," "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," and "Paranoid Style in American Politics" were ubiquitous on college reading lists. And this was for good reason: Hofstadter many believe was the most incisive and insightful American historians of the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Coupled with his perceptive and innovative analytical abilities were writing talents that made his books fascinating to read.

Until now, there has not really been a full-scale biography of Hofstadter. This book, by David S. Brown, fills that gap very nicely. Brown has well handled the central challenge of writing about Hofstadter--how much attention should be devoted to the books and how much to the man? Someone who was born in the 1960's, as was the author, might well wonder what all the excitement was about. Brown's excellent discussions of the various Hofstadter volumes will clue such readers into his approach, prejudices, accomplishments, and contributions to the writing of American history. One also gets a pretty solid feel for Hofstadter the man as well. Brown has interviewed many who knew Hofstadter: his students (such as Dorothy Ross) and his colleagues at Columbia. He scoured oral history collections and published recollections as well. One of the most effective dimensions of the book is that Brown incorporates discussions of some leading historical interpretations that appeared at the same time as Hofstadter's books--some agreed with Hofstadter, others took issue with various of his positions, and an interesting dialogue resulted.

The research is solid; the writing flows very well, and the narrative is quite interesting. A helpful bibliographic essay, "The Search for Richard Hofstadter," concludes the volume and is quite useful. For anyone interested in the development of 20th century American historiography, or who is just curious about what was going on in this country's political history, Brown's book is a valuable and stimulating introduction.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A central intellectual from the margins, April 10, 2006
By viktor_57 "viktor_57" (Fairview, Your Favorite State, USA) - See all my reviews
"Before you study the history, study the historian. . . The historian, being an individual, is also a product of history, and of society; and it is in this twofold light that the student of history must learn to regard him." So advised the British historian E.H. Carr, and it is in this spirit that David Brown's "Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography" is written.

I recall reading bits of Hofstadter in graduate school and remember him as a popular postwar historian who championed New Deal liberalism. Brown's biography traces the development of Hofstadter's thoughts from his origins in ethnically diverse Buffalo, NY--born in 1916 to a Jewish father and German Lutheran mother--and continues through the great upheavals and traumas of the twentieth century. At every stage in the unrolling of the great drama--the Great Depression, the New Deal, WWII, postwar extremism--Hofstadter reacted with passion, empathy, and sharp criticism. Hofstadter understood that America was changing and could no longer claim a hegemonic Protestant ideal. The pluralism from which he came allowed Hofstadter to see that civil rights, immigration, and changing regional beliefs were components in the increasing pluralism in America which could only function to the greatest benefit by opposing the paranoia, populism, and anti-intellectualism of McCarthy and Goldwater in the postwar era. Some have accused Hofstadter of paranoia himself when he warned of fascist tendencies, including "jingoism, economic ultra-conservatism, and racial animosity" of the growing conservative movement, but history has shown how prescient Hofstadter was as we struggle today in a climate of "nation-building, abuse of the national security state, and imperial presidencies." Hofstadter and Brown remind us of the fragility of liberalism and why the ideas and history it produced matter to us today. Hofstadter always sought the center, believing that discussions beginning from consensus were more productive than arguments that exacerbated differences. We would all do well to remember his wisdom.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars essential American Intellectual History, historiography, March 18, 2007
By L. F Sherman "dikw" (Wiscasset, ME United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography (Paperback)
Richard Hofstader is one of the foremost US Historians of this century even though his career was less than half as long as Arthur Schlesinger's and included no service to an incumbent President. His work is especially noted for interpretations reflecting a multiethnic more urban America and also lessons from social theory. Immense prestige within the scholarly community was complemented by books that are readable and more `popular' than most histories. Almost all College Graduates, at least through the 70's will have read one or more of his books. Continually historians and others have been stimulated by discussions of "social Darwinism," "anti-Intellectualism" and a "paranoid style" in American politics as well as his `take' on American Political thought and the Progressive era.

Interests in American intellectual history and in American historiography are central to this study. Insights on regionalism and politics in the academe add to the book. The Morningside and general New York intellectual environment are also evident. There is even some insight into the student rebellion of 1968 and its consequences.

My own enthusiasm is partly personal; I attended Columbia as a History major starting in the same class as Hofstader's son Danny (although I graduated a year early). Many of the personalities mentioned, as well as guest speakers at the Graduate History Lounge like Hannah Arendt and Phillip Curtin were part of my experience and some of Hofstader's books enlightened History and Government courses. However, any historian and especially students of the US should find much of interest.

David Brown does an excellent job in this "intellectual biography". There is probably no way it could be authored with the more exciting style of Hofstader himself. Nor will it find so broad a readership as books like "The American Political Tradition". It is a shame hat so many of Hofstader's works are out of print although this does reflect some further evolution in interpretation as well as new themes and approaches. Times have changed and the numbers of PhD's has boomed with ever more narrow studies and perhaps fewer stimulating interpretive books for the `educated reader'. As education has become increasingly more like job training and history as well as language and other substantial general education and critical thinking courses have reduced places in education intellectual and public discourse have eroded.

Brown reinforces awareness that history is not dates and facts, that it is not neutral, and that it is an evolving effort to understand our own day and its origins. Intellectual history and analysis of historiography, together with the better comparative histories, are the source of more realistic and better understanding - a more than welcome and mature improvement over ideologues and shallow discourse prevalent today. Education in general and the study of history in particular, is no absolute assurance against stupidity of leaders and public discourse. Yet without the study of history such foolishness is common.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Hail Columbia!


"Intellectual biography" reminds me of the legal profession's use of the term "intellectual property" to describe trademark and patent law. Read more
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A very good primer on progressivism, liberalism and conservatism. Not a light read.
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Richard Hofstadter obeyed the unwritten rule: tenured liberal arts academics who teach at an "elite" university should make sure they are of great value to the Democratic Party... Read more
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