Description: Calling into question widely held notions about how Americans came to differ from one another and explaining why those differences continue to flourish, this iconoclastic study--by scholars with differing regional ties--will refresh and redirect the centuries-old discussion over Americans' conceptions of themselves.
Brief description: Edward L. Ayers is Hugh P. Kelly Professor in the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia.
Review Quotes: Due to the nature of their assignment, historians who deliver lectures in a distinguished series are often reacquired either to survey old ground that has been covered more thoroughly in larger monographs or venture into new territory that cannot be examined fully in the time available. Even so, such lectures can be framed in creative ways that enrich understanding, stimulate fresh thought, and point the way to fertile ground for additional research on important issues. [This] well-written [volume] of lectures [meets] those standards. [It represents its] genre at its best and [is a] welcome [addition] to the literature on American regions.
--Winfred B. Moore, Jr., North Carolina Historical Review