Constructing the American Past: A Source Book of a People's History, Volume 2

by Elliott J. Gorn, Randy W. Roberts, Terry Bilhartz

This primary source reader captures the excitement of hands-on history through letters, articles, journalistic sources, photographs and posters. Constructing the American Past achieves a level of inclusion and depth rarely found in other source books. Each chapter focuses on a particular problem or moment in American history, and provides students with several points of view. The photographs, posters and maps included in the text ask the students to “read” the visual sources of American history. By exposing students to primary sources, the building blocks of history , Constructing the American Past fosters a solid foundation and invites its readers to build their own understanding of American history.

Genres: History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Elliott J. Gorn (Ph.D. Yale University, 1983, A.B. University of California, Berkeley, 1973) is the Joseph Gagliano Professor of American Urban History and has a distinguished record of scholarship, publication and excellence in teaching and student mentorship. His books and articles embrace multiple aspects of urban and American culture, particularly the history of various social groups in American cities since 1800. Gorn’s work is interdisciplinary and intersects with numerous other fields.

His four major books examine various aspects of urban life and city cultures in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States, including Dillinger’s Wild Ride: The Year That Made America’s Public Enemy Number One (Oxford University Press, 2009); Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America (Hill and Wang, 2001, Korean edition, 2003); A Brief History of American Sports, co-authored with Warren Goldstein (Hill and Wang, 1993; reissued University of Illinois Press, 2004); and The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America (Cornell University Press, 1986; 2nd edition, 2010, with a new bibliography and afterword).

Gorn has edited eight volumes, including Sports in Chicago (University of Illinois Press, 2008); The McGuffey Readers: Selections from the 1878 Edition, with an introduction (Bedford Books, 1998); Muhammad Ali, The Peoples' Champ (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995); and The Encyclopedia of American Social History, 3 volumes, co-edited with Peter Williams and Mary Cayton (Scribners, 1993), which was awarded the Dartmouth Certificate by the American Library Association. He has published and reprinted more than 50 articles, book chapters and reviews in a wide variety of scholarly journals, encyclopedias, edited collections and news magazines, including the American Historical Review, the Journal of American History, the Journal of American Studies, the Journal of Urban History, the Journal of Sport History, American Quarterly, the International Journal of Maritime History, Harper’s Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mother Jones, Boom: A Journal of California, Le Monde Diplomatique Dissent On-Line, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune.

- taken from his staff profile, see "official website"

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan. I feel a bit like they copped out on the writing. I get the idea of presenting history from the perspective of primary sources, but the chapters overly focused on ONE idea and left out everything else from that time period. While that could be interesting (after ~1920 when the writing was less painful to read), it certainly presented a horribly limited account of history.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty well done. Organized and to the point. Great for seniors or freshmen in college.

[Seth Robins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book alone made me choose History as my first major in college.