A most engaging book about the generation of British and American historians who challenged the orthodoxies sustaining some of the most cherished national myths.
~Wilson Quarterly
Palmer has written a perceptive book, which simultaneously explains much about the nature of history as intellectual discourse in the mid-twentieth century and the forces, inside and outside the academy, which converged to shape its development.
~Albion
For historians this book is a must, not because they have to read it, but because they will love it! It is also something general readers of history will grab for: personal sides of historians readers are not likely to know about. The book also places historical works into fresh and often revealing patterns. No other book lets a reader so openly into the workings of university departments or shows the closeness between good teaching and good book writing. Big as this book is, it is still a page turner.
~Carl N. Degler
A brilliantly conceived study of an important generation of historians.... A welcome addition to a frequently overlooked part of the badly neglected historiographical studies.
~Choice
Bill Palmer's fascinating study reconstructs the experiences and intellectual world of a seminal generation of historians on both sides of the Atlantic. Based on a wide range of sources, including personal interviews with many of those discussed, his argument is persuasive and thought-provoking. The book greatly enhances our understanding of the development of the modern historical profession and deserves to have a very wide readership.
~David L. Smith
A fascinating, seminal study on a generation of historians whose impact on world culture we are just beginning to fully appreciate. This is intellectual history at its absolute finest. A landmark book brimming with analytical savvy, narrative flare, and sound judgment.
~Douglas Brinkley
A unique group biography of this unusually talented class of history-makers.
~Giustificativo
Addresses an important subject with wit and good writing and provides a collection of memorable bon mots from a group of notable historians.
~Journal of American History
This work is extraordinarily informative, rationally organized, and written with clarity and grace.
~William B. Gatewood
