Description
About the Author
Max M. Edling is Reader in Early American History at the King's College, London. He is the author of A Revolution in Favor of Government: The Origin of the US Constitution and the Making of the American State and A Hercules in the Cradle: War, Money, and the American State, 1783-1867.
Reviews
A bold and bracing reinterpretation of America's founding. In examining anew the determination of the Framers to preserve the powers of the states, Max Edling alters the prism through which we view the forces of change and continuity, equality and subjugation, and strength and weakness that defined America's beginning. The illumination that Perfecting the Union generates is often startling. * Gary Gerstle, author of Liberty and Coercion: The Paradoxes of American Government from the Founding to the Present *
A fascinating, learned exploration of the conceptual significance of 'Union' in the framing period. Edling provocatively argues for the Constitution as a renewed compact of union, with a relatively effective fiscal-military federal government and reinvigorated state governments. This deeply rewarding book provides a refreshing new, synthetic account of the creation of the United States. * Mary Sarah Bilder, Founders Professor, Boston College Law School *
Edling provides a fresh take on the 'critical period' and the creation of the new federal government under the Constitution. Concisely written and powerfully articulated, Perfecting the Union brings new life to old debates, revitalizes the study of constitutional history, and solidifies Edling's role as a one of the leading scholars of the state in the Early Republic. * Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Senior Fellow, International Center for Jefferson Studies, and author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution *
In this bracing new study, historian Max Edling shows how the US Constitution was not intended primarily as a solution to internal problems within the states but as a means of addressing intractable problems between the states, with foreign nations, and with Native Americans in the west. Abandoning the stultifying dichotomy between 'progressive vs. conservative' that has constricted scholarly debate for decades, Edling restores the Constitution to its true historical context. * Rosemarie Zagarri, George Mason University, and author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197534717
Author Max M. Edling
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 476g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 236mm * 25mm