Average user rating:  |
 Hollow Prose and Scant Research |
| Sellers' text is without a doubt the most jaded and overtly biased piece of historical writing I've ever encountered. While making supreme jumps in logic, Sellers assumes that most virtuous Americans in the Jacksonian Era were opposed to the new market economy, yet fails to recognize how quickly those in the South and West embraced the blessings of a free market at the first opportunity. Without defining capitalism, or many of the other terms that he freely juggles around like a poor court jester, Sellers promotes the subsistance culture with such flowery prose that one would think it a utopian way of life. His father's legacy and his love of superfluous language are the only things that unite Seller's book, and his glaring omissions and supreme reliance upon secondary research render the text not only incoherent but incorrect. |
 Important for the Scholar |
| This is one of the most important works on U.S. history before 1865 out there. BUT, it is very long and very tough reading. Put simply, if you are not extremely interested in economic history, you'll quit reading this book after 50 pages, so don't waste your money. The book contains important ideas, but they are not clearly conveyed. I recommend this book for grad. students in history (who probably will be forced to read it), but that's about it. |
 Great Guide to the Forces Changing Early 19th c America |
| Solid all-around work on the social and economic forces that changed the United States from an Old World society, where privilege and rank were foremost, to a budding modern commercial civilization where individualism is prized and pluralistic republican principles predominate. A good read for anyone interested in the first half of the 19th century. |
