Description
From the beginning, what has given our culture its distinctive texture, pattern, and thrust, according to Michael Kammen, is the dynamic interaction of the imported and the indigenous. He shows how, during the years of colonization, some ideas and institutions were transferred virtually intact from Britain, while, simultaneously, others were being transformed in the New World. As he unravels the tangled origins of our culture, he makes us see that unresolved contradictions in the American experience have created our national style. Puritanical and hedonistic, idealistic and materialistic, peace-loving and war-mongering: these opposing strands go back to the genesis of our history.
Reviews
A lively, wide-ranging book... highly impressive.... I wish I had written People of Paradox.
-- Marcus Cunliffe * New York Times Book Review *Puts forth an interpretation that all American historical scholars will have to take seriously as they prepare their own versions of American history.
-- Carl Bridenbaugh * Yale Review *Awards
Winner of Winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize in History.
Book Information
ISBN 9780801497551
Author Michael Kammen
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 127mm * 21mm
