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Too Specific
This work was not completely awful.It was, however, overly focused on one lesser aspect of the life of an otherwise fascinating American character.Though this is what the author apparently set out to accomplish, it doesn't make for the most thrilling read. ... Read more

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Good survey of the topic
This book, part of the Problems in American Civilization series, is in three sections: first, there are two essays by Frederick Jackson Turner, in which he presents his famous theory on how the frontier was the driving force behind the development of America, especially its brand of democracy; second, there are four essays criticizing Turner's theory; and third, four essays in praise of the theory. Turner believed that, up to 1890, the ever-present frontier, that place always to the west that offered free lands to citizens willing and able to work it, created a totally unique citizen - the American - individualistic, independent, and nationalistic. Critics tend to be rankled by Turner's insistence that his theory was all inclusive; for example, it excluded or downplayed European influences in the making of America's character. Much of Turner's theory does seem to explain a lot about this country, but not all. This book presents alternative arguments, pro and con, by important historians (George Wilson Pierson, Walter Prescott Webb, Ray Billington, Louis M. Hacker, among others), and is a good introduction to Turner's ideas and his critics. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is concerned with the significance of the frontier as an influence on American democracy and the American character. Frederick J. Turner's statement of his frontier thesis opens the book, followed by the views of other prominent historians in agreement or disagreement with it. ... Read more

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An Important Consensus Interpretation of the Efforts of Progressive Historians
Richard Hofstadter was one of the finest and most revered historians of his generation. His body of work epitomized what has been labeled the "consensus school" of American history, wherein he emphasized the larger themes that drew Americans of all perspectives and backgrounds together. At a fundamental level, therefore, Hofstadter concentrated on intellectual history, celebrating the long tradition of shared American ideals and values while de-emphasizing conflict. He questioned the ideas and people who challenged those cherished principles, seeing in many of them strains of authoritarianism, anarchy, and narrow- and simple-mindedness of all varieties. His work advocated a pragmatic liberalism that he believed was in constant jeopardy from forces of fear, anti-intellectualism, and authoritarianism. Hofstadter leapt to fame with "The American Political Tradition: and the Men who Made It" (1948) in which he celebrated the ideals of democracy and liberalism and took aim at dark, divisive ideas in American thought.

In "The Progressive Historians" Hofstadter analyzes the work of three great historians of the first half of the twentieth century, Frederick Jackson Turner, Charles A. Beard, and Vernon L. Parrington. Turner's "Frontier Thesis" influenced a generation of thinkers seeking to understanding the distinctiveness of the American culture. Beard's model of economic conflict of haves versus have nots highlighted class warfare as the dominant theme in American history. Parrington's "Main Currents in American Thought" emphasized the stresses and strains of American life. All three were advocates of a progressive interpretation of American history; that is, a commitment to explaining the advance of American democracy in which "the people" battled against "the interests" leading to a more equitable, just society.

As Hofstadter shows, progressive reform was a persistent aspect of these historians, leading them to a fundamental "presentism" in their work. He finds that their flawed, conflict-dominated account of American history pitted a forward looking Western ethos against the prejudices and status quo mindset of the East. For Hofstadter, this missed a crucial point; virtually all conflict in American history had revolved around who had the largest share of the economic abundance of the nation. What conflict that existed, Hofstadter asserted, was over the size of the slices of the pie, not over the shape or type of pie, much less a more fundamental debate over whether to have pie or cake. The conflict that the progressive school emphasized, for Hofstadter, was conducted within a larger consensus over basic ideas and values that all agreed to.

Hofstadter admitted that he was initially attracted to the interpretation of the progressive school. He explicitly singled out reading Charles Beard's pivotal work, "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution" (1913), which depicted the framers as landed aristocracy seeking to ensure their own wealth through the creation of a government that abandoned the principles of equality advanced in the American Revolution in favor of securing property rights, as a turning point in his intellectual career.

Late in his life, however, Hofstadter had made a long journey from progressive to consensus history, and he found in a close reading of Turner, Beard, and Parrington a bankruptcy of their emphasis on political and economic conflict. Raised to a high form by a generation of historians between 1910 and 1950, Hofstadter believed that the weakness of this conflict interpretation was laid bare in "the collapse of Europe, the horrors of the war and the death camps." He thought it forced a rethinking of America and led to "a revival of the old feeling that the United States is better and different" (p. 438). Additionally, "the cold war brought a certain closing of the ranks, a disposition to stress common objectives, a revulsion from Marxism and its tendency to think of social conflict as carried à outrance" (p. 439). In such a context, he asserted, the interpretations of the progressive historians seemed quite out of touch with the issues of concern to those seeking to understand the past as an entrée to present situations.

Although published in 1968, one of the last works of Richard Hofstadter because he died in 1970 of leukemia at age 54, "The Progressive Historians" represents a mature critique of a dominant school of thought in the study of the American past. But Hofstadter goes much farther in this book, criticizing the "cheerleading" of the status quo offered by some consensus historians with whom he very much disliked being lumped with, especially Daniel Boorstin and Louis Hartz, arguing that their brand of historical analysis is fatally flawed. He noted that Hartz, and to a lesser extent Boorstin, both engaged in reductionism and view American development as "questions of political thought" even as they claim that "political thought in this country has never amounted to much" (p. 456). Instead, he recommends the consensus school as but one answer to "a whole set of new questions about the extent to which agreement prevails in a society, who in fact takes part in it, and how it is arrived at" (p. 454).

Nearly forty years after its publication, "The Progressive Historians" remains an important study of American historiography and a work with which those seriously interested in the course of historical studies in the United States should become familiar. ... Read more

Book Description
Log cabins and wagon trains, cowboys and Indians, Buffalo Bill and General Custer. These and other frontier images pervade our lives, from fiction to films to advertising, where they attach themselves to products from pancake syrup to cologne, blue jeans to banks. Richard White and Patricia Limerick join their inimitable talents to explore our national preoccupation with this uniquely American image.
Richard White examines the two most enduring stories of the frontier, both told in Chicago in 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition. One was Frederick Jackson Turner's remarkably influential lecture, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History"; the other took place in William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's flamboyant extravaganza, "The Wild West." Turner recounted the peaceful settlement of an empty continent, a tale that placed Indians at the margins. Cody's story put Indians--and bloody battles--at center stage, and culminated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn, popularly known as "Custer's Last Stand." Seemingly contradictory, these two stories together reveal a complicated national identity.
Patricia Limerick shows how the stories took on a life of their own in the twentieth century and were then reshaped by additional voices--those of Indians, Mexicans, African-Americans, and others, whose versions revisit the question of what it means to be an American.
Generously illustrated, engagingly written, and peopled with such unforgettable characters as Sitting Bull, Captain Jack Crawford, and Annie Oakley, The Frontier in American Culture reminds us that despite the divisions and denials the western movement sparked, the image of the frontier unites us in surprising ways. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A new way to view the west
Quality publisher of the exhibition at the Newberry Library, with smooth matte expensive thick paper and excellent reproductions of artifacts. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Australian writer Rod Jones bends history at one of its unique crossroads to create this intriguing work of historical fiction. As both frontier life and the 19th century wind down, Jones fashions a meeting in the Wisconsin woodlands between soon-to-be-famous evangelist Billy Sunday, essayist Frederick Jackson Turner, and photographer Charles Van Schaick. As the characters' histories unfold, their intersection stands as a metaphor for the closing of one century and the dawning of another. Interested readers may want to look for other books on Billy Sunday, including Billy Sunday, Baseball Preacher, and Preacher: Billy Sunday and Big-Time American Evangelism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Couldn't possibly achieve all it attempts
This is a bold attempt by the author to weave magic and history, and it ultimately fails, although it was probably worth the effort. Doesn't quite get where he wants us to go, but it's a fun trip, anyhow.
Much of the book is based on Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip," an historical record of life, death, and madness in Northern Wisconsin at the end of the 19th century. Lesy's book succeeds where Jones fails, simply by letting the events and Schaik's remarkable photographs stand on their own. There is no need to resort to the supernatural-reality is more than bizarre enough.

Concentrate and believe
I found this book a little confusing to begin with but if you just concentrate you will find so many meanings to the words. The characters are vivid and precise, a great combination of personality traits and strengths.Definately worth the reading for all those who believe in any kind ofspiritual being and its influences on their lives.

Changed my life
I am very selective with what I read and like very unconventional novels Billy Sunday surpassed everything I believed possible from an author.I mean this compltely literally the book is magic. Read Rod Jones other novel Julia Paradise it to is complete brilliance

Rod Jones
I've written my thesis about this author. I would like to meet other people all over the world interedted in Rod Jones. ... Read more