A historian's view of the Early American Republic
Want a free signed copy of Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the Democratic Party? You can win in two ways: 1. Like the Jacksonian America Facebook page, and share the post about this contest on your personal timeline. 2. Retweet the Twitter announcement of this contest. I will award one book for Facebook participants and one for …
Continue reading Win a Free Copy of Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the Democratic Party
In addition to a bevy of articles and essays, students in my Spring 2019 courses will be reading these books. Introduction to Historical Methods Conal Furay and Michael J. Salevouris, The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide, 4th ed. (Wiley Blackwell, 2015) ISBN 9781118745441 Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party’s Revolution and the Battle …
Several years ago, I was invited to write a book on Andrew Jackson and the origins of the Democratic party for ABC-CLIO. While I was grateful for the opportunity, the book was marketed as a reference book, with ancillary material included that I thought detracted from the narrative and a price that deterred widespread sales …
Continue reading Previewing Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the Democratic Party
Now that The Coming of Democracy is in hand, here's your chance to win a signed paperback copy.* You can win in two ways: 1. Like the Jacksonian America Facebook page, and share the post about this contest on your personal timeline. 2. Retweet the Twitter announcement of this contest. I will award one book for Facebook participants …
Continue reading Win a Free Copy of The Coming of Democracy!
One of the things I didn't have to address in my previous series on the evolution of a book was the changes that a book can undergo between proposal and publication. I didn't have this experience with any of my previous books, but The Coming of Democracy was different. In 2012, I sent Johns Hopkins University …
Jacksonian Democracy Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism (Basic Books, 2017) 978-0465060887 Mark R. Cheathem, Andrew Jackson, Southerner (LSU Press, 2013) ISBN 9780807150986 Cassandra Good, Founding Friendships: Friendships between Men and Women in the Early American Republic (Oxford Univ. Press, 2015) ISBN 9780199376179 Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life (HarperPerennial, 1989) ISBN 0060916060 …
Popular history books can be a mixed bag. Oftentimes, they are well written but contain poor history. Finding the sweet spot--a well-written, well-researched book--is not easy, although one can think of journalists (Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin) and historians (Bill Brands, Stephen Ambrose) who have been successful to various degrees in this regard. Fox News …
Continue reading Review of Kilmeade and Yaeger’s Jackson Book
After a longer span of time than expected, The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson is finally in production. Copy-edits are in, and I'm awaiting page proofs. You may remember that back in August, I asked you to help choose the book cover. Turns out, the folks at Johns Hopkins Univ. Press had …
Joe Stoltz, who has a new book out on Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans that you should rightly assume is better than Brian Kilmeade's, inspired me to write about the books that played an integral role in the writing of Andrew Jackson, Southerner. (Yes, I'm four years late to the game.) In alphabetical …
Continue reading 10 Books That Influenced Andrew Jackson, Southerner
Conspiracy Theories Jovan Byford, Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction (Palgrave, 2011) ISBN 9781137520241 Barna William Donovan, Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious (McFarland, 2011) ISBN 9780786439010 Kathryn Olmsted, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011) ISBN 9780199753956 Michael William Pfau, The Political Style of Conspiracy: Chase, Summer, and Lincoln …
Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics 