The Pulitzer is not just for journalists, or even non-fictionists. The Pulitzer people give out a history award every year for the best work in US history. This year's winner is Daniel Walker Howe for his history of the US in the first half of the nineteenth century, What Hath God Wrought. His book is really good storytelling and excellent scholarship. Overall, some of the economic and social transformations that moved through the US at this point Howe sees in a good light. So overall, it's a pretty agreeable, and responsible book. Howe is in semi-retirement, but he's going to be giving a talk later this semester for the eighteenth century colloquium that I'm taking right now with my advisor. It should be a good discussion.
Posted by matt at April 7, 2008 7:08 PM | TrackBack