Now in its sixth edition, this provocative, uniquely interpretive approach to the study of American history has once again been thoroughly revised and updated. Reflecting the most recent significant historical scholarship and thought, almost half of the contributors are new to this latest edition. From the Reconstruction Era through the eighties, ten lively chapters provide students with a spectrum of divergent historical viewpoints on the main social, political, and economic trends that have shaped America's last century and a half.