Illuminating History: A Retrospective of Seven Decades

Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Bailyn’s (Adams Univ. Professor, Harvard; The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution) work is both a retrospective of, and introduction to, his decades-long historical investigations and writings on early American history. With a deft but almost self-deprecating touch, the author begins with his pre–World War II youth and education. Bailyn gives deference to influential teachers and professors, while remembering his human and humorous interactions with these early mentors. Over the next several chapters, Bailyn shifts to his life as a scholar, recounting his research into different eras and topics in American history, focusing on the mining of original source material to explore the attitudes of Americans just prior to the Revolution, and, later, 17th and 18th century population studies and controversies. Bailyn’s mastery of his varied subjects is impressive, but sometimes esoteric. At the end of his career, Bailyn hosted a series of seminars on Atlantic history, bringing together young historians from a myriad universities and backgrounds. The seminars served as a thought-provoking platform for many aspiring historians.