The Making of an Historian: The Collected Essays of J.H. Plumb, Volume 1 [Hardcover] Plumb, J. H.

Essays discuss the American Revolution, slavery, and the Kennedy and Nixon administrations.

This collection of essays spans more than 50 years of writing on history and historians by the noted scholar of 18th-century English politics. A second volume is set to appear, to be followed by an intellectual autobiography, for which the first two volumes will serve as a preliminary sketch. A recurring theme here is a defense of the Whig interpretation of history as the history of progress. In opposition to nay-sayers of Right and Left, Plumb argues persuasively that "the condition of man is now superior to what it was." Plumb is always an engaging writer, making the driest subject interesting, and he writes first-rate popular history. His work is distinguished by acuity of judgment, felicity of writing, and absence of cant. This collection supports the assertion that Plumb is one of our very best writers on history or any other subject.
- David Keymer, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Utica
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