The American Mind: An Interpretation of American Thought & Character Since the 1880's

by Henry Steele Commager

In a book written out of a passionate belief in the staying powers of the democratic principles, a noted historian has written a major work that may be described as an interpretation of American thought and character since the 1880s.
“Impressive in its inclusive sweep.”―Joseph Wood Krutch, New York Times

Genres: History, Philosophy, Politics, Political Science, American History, Nonfiction

489 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Henry Steele Commager was an American historian who helped define Modern liberalism in the United States for two generations through his 40 books and 700 essays and reviews.

Reviews

[John David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In lieu of a written review, my friends Peg and Sharon and I decided to hold a group discussion over Zoom instead, which we then posted to YouTube. The discussion was held on the night of July 26, 2020 and lasts for approximately 65 minutes. We plan on doing this in the future. I would love feedback, both on here and on YouTube, about this format and what people think of the long-form discussion/review generally.

Link: https://youtu.be/c2b6EuoDthw

Enjoy!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend the chapter on William James, and those on "Toward and New Science of Politics" and "Applications of Political Theory"

[Frank Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sort of book that couldn't be written today, in ways both good and bad. It's too panoptic and sprawling, attempting to cover six decades of thought in America after 1880 in everything from philosophy and economics to literature. It has pages of just vague pontificating, with barely a proper noun or number to be found, and just a handful of vague book citations as the support for whole chapters. But there's also something of the eager and personal engagement with a vast body of work that one can't find much of these days.

As a student and in some ways successor to Vernon Parrington's American Studies dream, he takes up Parrington's "Main Currents in American Thought" were they were left them at Parrington's death. Literature remains the touchstone of this work, and it focuses heavily on the great late 19th century writers, such as Theodore Dreiser, Frank Norris, Henry James, and William Dean Howells (the last he rescues from charges of drawing room pleasantries and shows his social conscience). Later, he goes into F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and others. (He is far too biting about the former, but Commager comes out of a post-1930s social realist milieux. He is appropriately biting about the latter.) There is much about the philosophy of pragmatism from William James and John Dewey, and about economics and sociology, with a special focus on the peripatetic Lester Ward, who created an early version of social liberalism.

How much of this analysis was original, besides putting all of these diverse strands together, even in 1950, is up for debate. The book is far too verbose for it's own good, and a book one-half the length would have done much better. But it is not only a window into the mind of late 19th and early 20th century America, it is a window into the post-World War II intellectual mind, where triumphant democracy was leavened with post-Depression social concerns and pragmatist and realist instincts. It's fascinating for that as well.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about american thought through the years, including pragmatism, determinism, science, religion, and much more. I recommend it for anyone trying to figure out why Americans are the way they are.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll read a chapter, maybe 2 before it's tossed to the donation pile.
I'll keep this because Americans elected Obama, an unabashed intellectual.

[Tommy Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best educations on American History that I've ever read. I highly recommend keeping a computer with both a DVD encyclopedia and the internet handy to lookup names and events.