19th Century Book Reviews

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Capital of Mind: The Idea of a Modern American University
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Sam Short

Capital of Mind: The Idea of a Modern American University

Nelson, the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, takes the title of his work from a quote by German economist Friedrich List. List, an advocate...
The Problem of Immigration in a Slaveholding Republic: Policing Mobility in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ by Sam Short

The Problem of Immigration in a Slaveholding Republic: Policing Mobility in the Nineteenth-Century United States

In The Problem of Immigration, readers are introduced to a familiar historical struggle between the states and the federal government regarding matters of constitutional interpretation. Slave states in the antebellum period perceived a government...
Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Carlos Fernando Teixeira Alves

Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880

Jean-Michel Johnston's Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880 primarily targets scholars, students, and enthusiasts who have a keen interest in the intersection of technology, society, and culture during 19th-century...
Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Megan Holtkamp

Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France

Jessie Hewitt’s Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France ties together themes of French society, psychiatry, the family, and gender analysis into one seminal text. Hewitt works to...
My Name Is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Manushree A

My Name Is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom

The deeply poignant children's novel My Name Is Henry Bibb takes readers on an engrossing journey through the unique life of Henry Bibb, an African American man born into slavery in the early 19th century. This novel, based on Bibb's true...
Going Underground: Race, Space, and the Subterranean in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Omari Averette-Phillips

Going Underground: Race, Space, and the Subterranean in the Nineteenth-Century United States

The word “underground” conjures many ideas in our minds. Those of us skewed toward an understanding of 19th-century U.S. history inevitably think of the Underground Railroad. In Going Underground: Race, Space, and the Subterranean in the...
Women, Peace and Welfare: A Suppressed History of Social Reform, 1880-1920
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Alex Revzan

Women, Peace and Welfare: A Suppressed History of Social Reform, 1880-1920

From the outset, Ann Oakley’s Women, Peace and Welfare: A Suppressed History of Social Reform, 1880-1920 sets an ambitious goal of recovering the memory of the female reformers active during these years who made important contributions to...
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Nicholas Sprenger

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

As the title suggests, Caroline Elkins's book tells the history of what historians call the “second British Empire” - the imperial developments that took shape after the disastrous loss of the rebellious American colonies in 1783 - through...
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Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Zhihui Zou

Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse

Although it was published in 1995, Richard R. John's Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse remains a must-read in the media history academia. This book practically shaped today's academic research in this genre...
The American West: A New Interpretive History (Second Edition)
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Zhihui Zou

The American West: A New Interpretive History (Second Edition)

When the first edition of The American West: A New Interpretive History, penned by Professor Robert V. Hine (1921 - 2015) and Professor John Mack Faragher, was published in 2000, it was an instant success despite the field of the American...
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