Reading the History of American Labyrinth

This volume of essays brings together 19 influential intellectual historians to contribute original thoughts on topics of widespread interest, demonstrating the power of intellectual history to illuminate our public life and examine our ideological assumptions.

In complicated and confounding times, people look for the principles that drive action and the foundations that support national ideals. Editors Raymond Haberski Jr. and Andrew Hartman asked a group of scholars to respond to a simple question: How might the resources of intellectual history help shed light on contemporary issues with historical resonance?

The answers are as eclectic in approach and temperament as the authors are different in their interests and methods. Taken together, these essays illustrate how intellectual historians, operating in many different registers at once and ranging from the theoretical to the political, can provide telling insights for understanding a public sphere fraught with conflict.

Contributors include James Livingston, David Sehat, Kevin M. Schultz, Amy Kittelstrom, Jonathan Holloway, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Ruben Flores, Kevin Mattson, Lisa Szefel, Angus Burgin, Christopher McKnight Nichols, K. Healan Gaston, Christopher Cameron, Tim Lacy, Benjamin L. Alpers, Andrew Jewett, and Daniel Wickberg.