The Concise Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History

by Michael Kazin (Editor), Rebecca Edwards (Editor), Adam Rothman (Editor)

Overview

An essential guide to U.S. politics, from the founding to today

With 150 accessible articles written by more than 130 leading experts, this essential reference provides authoritative introductions to some of the most important and talked-about topics in American history and politics, from the founding to today. Abridged from the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History, this is the only single-volume encyclopedia that provides comprehensive coverage of both the traditional topics of U.S. political history and the broader forces that shape American politics—including economics, religion, social movements, race, class, and gender. Fully indexed and cross-referenced, each entry provides crucial context, expert analysis, informed perspectives, and suggestions for further reading.

Contributors include Dean Baker, Lewis Gould, Alex Keyssar, James Kloppenberg, Patricia Nelson Limerick, Lisa McGirr, Jack Rakove, Nick Salvatore, Stephen Skowronek, Jeremi Suri, Julian Zelizer, and many more.

Entries cover:

• Key political periods, from the founding to today
• Political institutions, major parties, and founding documents
• The broader forces that shape U.S. politics, from economics, religion, and social movements to race, class, and gender
• Ideas, philosophies, and movements
• The political history and influence of geographic regions

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691152073
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/28/2011
Pages:	672
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Michael Kazin is professor of history at Georgetown University. Rebecca Edwards is the Eloise Ellery Professor of History at Vassar College. Adam Rothman is associate professor of history at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Alphabetical List of Entries xi

Topical List of Entries xiii

Contributors xv

Entries A-Z 1

Index 615

Editorial Reviews

"This well-edited and attractively presented volume provides readers with significantly more thoughtful and wide-ranging information than they will easily find on the Web; students in particular would be wise to consult it. Except in its language, which is uniformly accessible and mercifully free of the jargon that plagues contemporary scholarship, this encyclopedia reflects the atmosphere and the concerns of the contemporary academic community as effectively as Diderot's encyclopedia reflected the French Enlightenment."—-Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs

From the Publisher

"[T]his essential reference provides authoritative introductions to some of the most important and talked-about topics in American history and politics, from the founding to today."

World Book Industry

"[S]uccinct. . . . What this convenient, one-volume compilation provides, as did its antecedent, are the fact-based, thought-provoking interpretations of historians, journalists, and social scientists found in topical entries, followed by suggestions for further reading and often by see also references."

Choice

This well-edited and attractively presented volume provides readers with significantly more thoughtful and wide-ranging information than they will easily find on the Web; students in particular would be wise to consult it. Except in its language, which is uniformly accessible and mercifully free of the jargon that plagues contemporary scholarship, this encyclopedia reflects the atmosphere and the concerns of the contemporary academic community as effectively as Diderot's encyclopedia reflected the French Enlightenment.

Foreign Affairs - Walter Russell Mead

This well-edited and attractively presented volume provides readers with significantly more thoughtful and wide-ranging information than they will easily find on the Web; students in particular would be wise to consult it. Except in its language, which is uniformly accessible and mercifully free of the jargon that plagues contemporary scholarship, this encyclopedia reflects the atmosphere and the concerns of the contemporary academic community as effectively as Diderot's encyclopedia reflected the French Enlightenment.
— Walter Russell Mead

Foreign Affairs

Edited by Kazin (history, Georgetown Univ.; America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s), Rebecca Edwards (history, Vassar college; America's History), and Adam Rothman (history, Georgetown Univ.; Slave Country: American Expansion and the Origins of the Deep South), this multicontributor encyclopedia covers the evolution of American politics from the country's founding to 2008. The 150 entries discuss periods, institutions, movements, major political parties, ideas and philosophies, war and foreign policy, founding documents, regions, and issues. Each piece provides a historical overview of the topic discussed, tracing origins and providing conclusions, and ending with a welcome, comprehensive further-reading list, which will be of true value to those using the text as a springboard for additional study. Front matter includes alphabetical and topical entry lists, though the material is presented alphabetically. Topical presentation might have been better, as moving from, for example, "Interest Groups" to "Iraq wars of 1991 and 2003" is somewhat jarring. This problem is amplified by the title's excellent index, which reminds readers of the context that is lost by alphabetization. BOTTOM LINE While a good starting point for researchers interested in exploring American political history, this encyclopedia will be confusing to lay readers as the evolution of politics in America is best served by an understanding of a broader context of the events or topics at hand. Though it is also alphabetically arranged, beginning history students will find the more comprehensive version of this text, The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History (2010), of more value.—Annette Haldeman, Dept. of Legislative Svcs., Maryland General Assembly, Annapolis

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