Empire of Liberty

Empire of Liberty by Gordon S Wood

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of the USA. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812. As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country. Integrating all aspects of life, from politics and law to the economy and culture, Empire of Liberty offers a marvelous account of this pivotal era when America took its first unsteady steps as a new and rapidly expanding nation.

'Empire of Liberty' will not soon be surpassed for its comprehensiveness or for its erudition* David Armitage, Times Literary Supplement *
Empire of Liberty will not soon be surpassed for its comprehensiveness or for its erudition. * David Armitage, Times Literary Supplement *

Gordon S. Wood is Alvo O. Way Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. His books include the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Radicalism of the American Revolution, the Bancroft Prize-winning The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787, The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, and The Purpose of the Past: Reflections on the Uses of History. He writes frequently for The New York Review of Books and The New Republic.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195039146
ISBN 10	0195039149
Title	Empire of Liberty
Author	Gordon S Wood
Series	Oxford History Of The United States
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2010-01-07
Number of pages	800
Prizes	Commended for L.A. Times Book Prize (History) 2009
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable