Sense of History: The Place of the Past in American Life
Glassberg uses a series of loosely related essays on small, sometimes seemingly insignificant, topics as a way of meditating on a large, complex, and important matter: the differences and interrelationships between the 'sense of history' among academic historians and the American people. Both public and academic historians ought to find this readable work thought-provoking and rewarding.(Choice)David Glassberg has a very substantial scholarly reputation as one who has investigated and thoughtfully reflected on the meanings history has held for a broad range of people and communities in our society, over time.... This is a unique, engaging, and refreshing book, at once profound and modest -- an important scholar's contribution to debates of considerable significance.(Michael H. Frisch, author of A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History)Glassberg is an enormously well read guide to the literature on public history and historical consciousness, and this volume brings together the fruits of his many years of reading and practice in the field.(Roy Rosenzweig, coauthor of The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life)