Synopses & Reviews
“Who Owns History? testifies to Eric Foners lifelong personal commitment to writing histories that advance the struggle for racial equality and economic justice.” —David Glassberg, The Sunday Star-LedgerHistory has become a matter of public controversy, as Americans clash over such things as museum presentations, the flying of the Confederate flag, and reparations for slavery. So whose history is being written? Who owns it?
Eric Foner answers these and other questions about the historians relationship to the world of the past and future in this provocative, even controversial, study of the reasons we care about history—or should.
Review
“A writer and scholar with the rare ability to present complex ideas in a clear and engaging manner.” —Steven J. Ross,
Los Angeles Times“Introduces readers to one of the countrys finest historians.” —Joyce Appleby, UCLA
“A thoughtful collection of essays.” —Rob Mitchell, “Pages to the People,” WBNW-AM and WPLM-AM
“Eric Foners a teacher, and hes done what the best teachers do: create lessons so interesting that students want to learn. More than anything else, thats the power of Who Owns History?” —Laurie Edwards, CultureDose.com
About the Author
Eric Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. He is the author of many highly acclaimed works in American history, notably
The Story of American Freedom and Reconstruction. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Part I: The Politics of History and Historians1. My Life as a Historian
2. The Education of Richard Hofstadter
Part II: Rethinking History in a Changing World
3. American Freedom in a Global Age
4. The Russians Write a New History
5. "We Must Forget the Past": History in the New South Africa
6. Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?
Part III: The Enduring Civil War
7. Who Is an American?
8. Blacks and the U.S. Constitution
9. Ken Burns and the Romance of Reunion
Notes
Index