Charles Austin Beard: The Return of the Master Historian of American Imperialism

Richard Drake offers a fresh perspective on Charles Austin Beard's life and work, highlighting his European dimension and correcting previous biographers' oversights. Drake analyzes Beard's development as a historian and critic, including his role in the Progressive movement, support for American intervention in World War I, and revisionist rejection of Wilsonian ideals. Beard's life and work deserve a reexamination in light of the costs of nation-building and informal empire.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 15 April 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Charles Austin Beard, a prominent American historian and a leading public intellectual during the first half of the twentieth century, actively engaged in the discussions surrounding American politics and foreign policy during the two world wars. In a significant shift in critical perspective, Charles Austin Beard takes center stage, rectifying previous biographers' oversights and offering a far more nuanced understanding of Beard's life. Richard Drake delves into the stages of Beard's development as a historian and critic, examining his role as an intellectual leader within the Progressive movement, his support for American intervention in World War I, and his subsequent revisionist rejection of Wilsonian ideals and embrace of non-interventionism in the buildup to World War II.

Charles Austin Beard demonstrates that, as Americans reckon with the devastating consequences—both financial and moral—of nation-building and informal empire, the life and work of this prophet of history warrant a thorough reevaluation.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501770173