Originally published in 1997 and now back in print, Making the American Self by Daniel Walker Howe, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought, charts the genesis and fascinating trajectory of a central idea in American history. One of the most precious...
What does it mean to be an American, and how have individual Americans consciously endeavoured to create their own identity? Self-improvement, self-culture, and to make something of oneself were all terms used from Colonial to Victorian times. This quest has been a powerful cultural...