Inventing American History

by William Hogeland

A historian's call to make the celebration of America's past more honest.

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 026201288X
• ISBN13: 9780262012881
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.4" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and Intriguing Reading

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!