The Sum of Our Dreams: A Concise History of America

Rutgers University history professor Masur (Lincoln’s Last Speech) balances “the reprehensible and the redemptive” in this judicious single-volume history of the U.S. Taking the book’s title from a 2007 speech by Barack Obama on the plurality of “American dreams,” Masur pays close attention to the country’s record of violence and racial animus, as well as its democratic impulses and unprecedented economic opportunities. Moving chronologically, he devotes each chapter to a distinct time period, addressing five key events, trends, or issues within that era. The chapter on pre–Civil War America, for instance, includes sections on the Compromise of 1850, the “Bleeding Kansas” skirmishes between pro- and antislavery partisans, and abolitionist John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. Masur also details lesser-known developments such as the conflicts between capital and labor during the Gilded Age, the development of post-WWII suburbia, and the “stagflation” of the 1970s. Throughout, his insights and succinct character sketches (on reformist Wisconsin governor Robert La Follette: “One of the most charismatic orators of the day, his full head of hair would whip from side to side and the veins in his neck popped as he denounced corporate power and political corruption”) give the book the feel of an excellent undergraduate survey course. American history buffs will savor this well-executed chronicle. (Sept.)