“Informed and entertaining.” — Journal of American History
"[An] engaging biography.” — American Studies
“A superb biography of Henry Steele Commager, an energetic, erudite, and concerned intellectual, as well as an account of American historiography. Anyone interested in American civilization, today’s cultural wars, and the continuing search to interpret the past will learn much from this book. . . . Jumonville’s elegant style engages the reader and compels one to read on. This is an important book.” — Journal of Illinois History
“A dexterous, timely, rewarding study of Commager and his indelible place in the 20th century.” — Amherst Quarterly
“[A] thoughtful and intelligent biography.” — Alan Brinkley, The New Republic
“Neil Jumonville writes history like poetry . . . bringing layers of meaning to his text that transform it into literature. . . . [Jumonville] does a fine job of setting Commager on his intellectual path. He describes the historian’s appreciation of the principles of Thomas Jefferson, Unitarian abolitionist Theodore Parker and others who argue for free speech.” — Chicago Tribune
“A revealing, engaged assessment of the life and work of a man who taught thousands and was read by millions. . . . Brilliantly assesses Commager’s scholarship and writings and sets the historian in his intellectual and professional context.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Neil Jumonville has done more than write an elegant intellectual biography of a historian who was one of the commanding figures of his generation. He has raised a rousing challenge to scholars today to recognize the enduring pertinence of midcentury liberalism and to acknowledge their obligation to be publicly engaged.” — William E. Leuchtenburg, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emeritus
“Neil Jumonville’s book is valuable in two principal ways. First, it is a lucid, accessible biography of one of our century’s most prominent historians, teachers, and public intellectuals, a man already in danger of being unjustly forgotten. Second, it uses Commager’s story as a springboard for a fresh and compelling reconsideration of the drift of contemporary scholarship in American history and American studies. Not only does the book enrich our sense of this talented, if flawed, man, but it also recovers the forgotten brilliance of an entire generation of midcentury liberal scholars — creators of a body of work that still has much to teach us today.” — Wilfred M. McClay, Tulane University
“The central contribution of this book is that it makes more complex and rich our understanding of the fate of American liberalism in the twentieth century, continues the process of broadening the roster of intellectuals whom we must consider important, and provides a nuanced and interesting intellectual biography of an important historian and public intellectual.” — Daniel Horowitz, Smith College
