A Contest of Civilizations
Exposing the Crisis of American Exceptionalism in the Civil War Era
By Andrew F. Lang
568 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 11 halftones, notes, bibl., index
-
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-6007-3
Published: January 2021 -
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4696-6008-0
Published: November 2020
Littlefield History of the Civil War Era
Buy this Book
- Hardcover $34.95
- E-Book $26.99
For Professors:
Free E-Exam Copies
In this sweeping history of political ideas, Andrew F. Lang reappraises the Civil War era as a crisis of American exceptionalism. Through this lens, Lang shows how the intellectual, political, and social ramifications of the war and its meaning rippled through the decades that followed, not only for the nation’s own people but also in the ways the nation sought to redefine its place on the world stage.
About the Author
Andrew F. Lang is Beverly B. and Gordon W. Gulmon Scholar in the Humanities and associate professor of history at Mississippi State University.
For more information about Andrew F. Lang, visit
the
Author
Page.
Reviews
"Lang's tour de force is a compelling and essential read. He shows how Americans' self-anointed claim of exceptionalism was, and is, premised on a supposed consensus on liberty's meaning that never was and perhaps will never be. Vital reading for all."--Library Journal, starred review
“A Contest of Civilizations successfully reflects the current state of the field, and it should remain the first point of departure for new work on the Civil War’s global context for some time to come.”--Andre M. Fleche, author of The Revolution of 1861: The American Civil War in the Age of Nationalist Conflict
“In A Contest of Civilizations, Andrew F. Lang delivers an impressive survey of deeply held notions of mid-nineteenth-century American exceptionalism. He combines lucid prose with a judicious approach in a multifaceted examination of the struggles to define the national identity before, during, and after the Civil War. Always thoughtful and often provocative, Lang relates the dramatic story of the United States testing its ideals of liberty and freedom against a background of turmoil at home and what Americans perceived as tyranny abroad.”--Joan Waugh, coauthor, The American War