Sum of Our Dreams: A Concise History of America

In The Sum of Our Dreams, Louis P. Masur provides a concise and accessible history of America from its origins to the present, tracing the progress of freedom, equality, and opportunity and illuminating the nation's struggle to fulfill its promise. Inspired by James Baldwin's observation, Masur expands our notion of American history while identifying its individual threads.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 368 pages
\n Publication date: 26 November 2020
\n Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
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In his book "The Sum of Our Dreams," Louis P. Masur provides a comprehensive yet concise history of America, spanning from its inception to the present day. Designed for general readers seeking an accessible and engaging single-volume account that challenges but does not overwhelm, this book distills and connects the major events and figures in the country's past in a single narrative. Drawing inspiration from Barack Obama's belief that America remains the sum of its dreams, Masur explores the origin of these dreams, which revolve around freedom, equality, and opportunity. He traces their progress chronologically, illuminating the nation's struggle to articulate and fulfill their promise.

The book spans various periods, including the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary Period, the Early Republic, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Progressive Age, World War One, the Great Depression, World War Two, the Cold War, Civil Rights, Vietnam, and Watergate. Masur delves into these periods, providing a clear and concise explanation of what underlies the divisiveness that has characterized American civic life over the past forty years, and indeed, more so than ever before.

Above all, Masur allows the story of American history to unfold naturally. Inspired by James Baldwin's observation that American history is longer, larger, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, Masur expands our notion of that history while identifying its individual threads. "The Sum of Our Dreams" will become the go-to single volume for anyone seeking a foundational understanding of the nation's past and its present.

\n Weight: 694g\n
Dimension: 167 x 242 x 30 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780190692575\n \n