A Nation Among Nations by Thomas Bender

A Nation Among Nations by Thomas Bender

A provocative new book that shows us why we must put American history firmly in a global context--from 1492 to today

Americans like to tell their country's story as if the United States were naturally autonomous and self-sufficient, with characters, ideas, and situations unique to itself. Thomas Bender asks us to rethink this exceptionalism and to reconsider the conventional narrative. He proposes that America has grappled with circumstances, doctrines, new developments, and events that other nations, too, have faced, and that we can only benefit from recognizing this.

Bender's exciting argument begins with the discovery of the Americas at a time when peoples everywhere first felt the transforming effects of oceanic travel and trade. He then reconsiders our founding Revolution, occurring in an age of rebellion on many continents; the Civil War, happening when many countries were redefining their core beliefs about the nature of freedom and the meaning of nationhood; and the later imperialism that pitted the United States against Germany, Spain, France, and England. Industrialism and urbanization, laissez-faire economics, capitalism and socialism, and new technologies are other factors that Bender views in the light of global developments.

A Nation Among Nations is a passionate, persuasive book that makes clear what damage is done when we let the old view of America alone in the world falsify our history. Bender boldly challenges us to think beyond our borders.

Thomas Bender is the University Professor of the Humanities; professor of History and director of Graduate Studies at New York University. His publications include The Unfinished City: New York and the Metropolitan Idea(2007) and A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History (2006).

Laurent Dubois is professor of French Studies and History at Duke University, Durham, NC and a leading expert on Haitian history and culture. His books include Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief History With Documents (with John Garrigus, 2006), and Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (2004).

Richard Rabinowitz is one of the leading public historians in the United States. Over the past forty years he has led creative teams of scholars, curators, educators, artists, architects, designers and institutional planners in fashioning over five hundred successful and innovative history programs.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780809072354
ISBN 10	0809072351
Title	A Nation Among Nations
Author	Thomas Bender
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Hill & Wang Inc.,U.S.
Year published	2006-12-12
Number of pages	384
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable