A survey of our past that capably blends politics, popular culture, and social history into a coherent, readable whole.
A levelheaded history of the U.S. framed on the pursuit of the American dream, however illusory it might now seem.
At the dawn of the Great Depression, a banker-turned-historian concocted the phrase “the American Dream” to indicate the governing force of the Declaration of Independence’s exaltation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. “Whether that dream is obtainable, and how access to it has changed over time, is the central theme of American history,” writes Masur, a scholar whose works have ranged from histories of the Civil War era to a book-length look at Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” The notion of equal opportunity is pretty much hard-wired into the American mind, though it’s often found wanting in practice; in any event, it was long denied to various categories of human being, including those of African descent and Indigenous people. Justifications for this exclusion came in many ideological guises, from the insistence of the Confederate constitution that slavery was the natural order of things to the social Darwinism of the post–Civil War era, which “served to undergird such various ideas as laissez-faire capitalism, imperialism, and eugenics.” (Masur ventures an intriguing connection between that dog-eat-dog belief system and the widespread popularity of boxing in the late 19th century.) The author’s dissection of the American dream often turns to areas in which it did not hold, such as the Panic of 1893, “a worldwide economic crisis caused by a decline in commodity prices,” and populist Wisconsin governor Robert La Follette’s efforts to smash the Republican political machine that eventually crushed him. Money is now the determinant of the dream, Masur suggests, with deep-pocketed players such as the Koch brothers and the National Rifle Association holding the keys to government. Meanwhile, the dreams of others for social justice, equality, and “pursuing a better life,” if often invoked, seem ever less attainable.
A survey of our past that capably blends politics, popular culture, and social history into a coherent, readable whole.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-19-069257-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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