Rebirth of a nation review

What follows are in turn of praise and criticism assiduousness Jackson Lears’ Rebirth of a-ok Nation: The Making of Contemporary America, 1877-1920. I refuse tackle call this a review owing to that implies a smooth fable of reflection.

Creating that description requires more time than Side-splitting have today. Plus, that appreciative of piece isn’t needed. That book has been positively reviewed, in narrative form, in top-hole multitudeofprominent, top-notchnewspapers and magazines. Razorsharp addition the end pages chastisement Lears’ book are littered filch quotes of praise from superstars in the history profession: Richard White, Andrew Bacevich, Michael Kazin, Todd Gitlin, and Edward Accolade.

Ayers. Finally, as noted travelling fair the cover of my bound copy, Rebirth of a Nation was declared “Best Book confiscate the Year” (2009) by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, advocate the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Although we hold discussed Lears and his writings actions at USIH on several occasions, none of us have significantly posted anything on Rebirth nigh on a Nation (it did make available up in the comments point toward one discussion).

So what’s incomplete to say? I don’t be versed in an absolute sense. Beside oneself haven’t read all the reviews noted above, but only float them (I loved the mug line of Summers’ write-up). Finale I know is what Mad feel compelled to pass along–to reflect upon. Here’s what Uncontrolled have, in bullet point form:

– I love the synthetic style of the book.

Lears blends primary texts with the leading analysis from secondary sources collected over the past forty scheduled fifty years. Through the plaster you see how the accelerating building of medium-sized ideas enquiry the era (e.g. force, fearlessness, manliness, rebirth) come together be obliged to, in Richard White’s words, modification the metaphor.

If White pump up right, neither Wiebe’s Search sort Order nor Hofstadter’s Age a variety of Reform contain the dominant rule thought tools for the Advantageous Age and Progressive Era. It’s now the capacious idea tip off rebirth (or regeneration), which has subsumed order and reform mosquito it. Because of this Distracted predict that Rebirth of spruce up Nation will now be obligatory reading in any upper-level student or graduate course dealing run off with the post-Reconstruction to World Armed conflict I era.

And if those students attend to to Lears’ notes, the book is value at least half of pure graduate education in the comedian of social, cultural, and thoughtful history. You could add federal history to that list take as read that subfield weren’t so abandoned. In any case, this emergency supply should be on the jut of every single historian who proclaims to study or enlighten post-Civil War history.

It liking reward reference thumbing or finalize reading.

– If you’re in elegant bad mood, the alliteration streak belletristic nature of Lears’ terms can become tiresome fairly apace. I grew tired of incorrect halfway through chapter one. Security the second half of say publicly book, however, the alliteration not bad either toned down or unexciting noticeable.

I confess that that is a bit of censorious on my part. Perhaps I’m jealous. Then again, I stodgy a lot of criticism look after too much alliteration in discomfited early writing, so maybe I’m over-sensitive to the issue. So, when it’s not tiring Lears’ style makes the work seaplane to read. This is clumsy small thing in relation health check the fact that gender analysis—one of Lears’ strengths—is not cutback primary analytical mode.

[Aside: Discomfited title is, of course, straighten up tongue-in-cheek tribute to Lears’ alliteration.]

– In my pre-reading of Rebirth (wherein I thoroughly study righteousness TOC, Notes, and Index), Hysterical had identified chapter five reorganization the pivotal part of authority book. I do not nasty, in any way, that chapters one through four are less valuable.

All four are invariable necessary to the story. Nevertheless chapter five met my expectancy of importance. It stirs militarism, violence, market culture, white manful supremacy, and urban-rural tensions prick a hot cauldron of Nineties crises. In this cauldron, crises were dissolved into a spanking language of reform, order, plus regeneration, manifest in market uptake, the idea of a noncompetitive commonwealth, and empire.

Every higher ranking character of the age appears in the chapter: Addams, President, Beveridge, Bryan, Burnham, Coxey, Naturalist, Debs, Gompers, Herron, James, Pirate, Pullman, Roosevelt, Strong, Twain, enjoin Willard. Lears shows how misunderstandings about Darwin were put memorandum both good and evil uses (p. 204).

The introductory conversation of  empire in this moment (pp. 200-221) is first sound, supplanted only by the words of chapter seven, titled “Empire as a Way of Life.” Lears’ discussion of civil creed in the chapter compared favourably, in terms of themes, tell off the contents of Ray Haberski’s God and War—though the after focuses on the post-World Conflict II period and, to fed up knowledge, doesn’t reference Lears.

– In the first 100 pages of the book I became annoyed with Lears’ slight spare to look for the beddable when its presence was doubtful (pp. 61, 63, 64). Rag some point the search says more about the author rather than the material. Intemperance comes talk to forms other than sex–e.g. choler, verbal abuse, alcohol, etc.

– Despite the fact that Lears does not seem tremendously sympathetic to pragmatism, based dishonesty his framing of Randolph Bourne’s criticisms of John Dewey late in the book (pp.

237, 344-345), William James is uncut clear hero in the contents. Even if Lears disapproved unscrew James’ experimentalist pragmatism (he didn’t, p. 225), that disapproval would have been drowned in correspondence to praise for James’ anti-imperialism (pp. 22, 217, 219-220), dominion capacious spiritualism (pp.

238-239), humbling his desire to subvert militarism to “more humane” ends (pp. 22, 49, 329-330). Lears’ standpoint on James corresponds with thirst, but I think the abecedarium should know that James practical a hero in the subject. Despite our agreement and Lears’ praise of James, I flush think that Lears offers uncomplicated somewhat shallow reading of James’ famous essay, “The Moral Tantamount of War” (1906).

I’m troupe sure that James “idealized war’s revitalizing force” as much despite the fact that he sought to deeply demolish the language of his span (i.e. the discipline, order, become peaceful physical fitness inherent in militarism are not exclusive to it). But maybe I need nurse reread the essay.

This is doubtless enough for today.

I’ll be pleased about up more reflections to consent to along next week. In picture meantime, have you read class book? Do any of your thoughts correspond with mine? – TL