From: IN%"H-SHGAPE@msu.edu" "H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List" 11-MAY-1997 23:05:24.10
To: IN%"H-SHGAPE@msu.edu" "Recipients of H-SHGAPE digests"
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Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 10 May 1997 to 11 May 1997
Date: Sun, 11 May 1997 09:05:02 -0500
From: "Ballard C. Campbell, Northeastern University"
Subject: GAPEBIB: Troesken, "Economists and Regulation..."
From: IN%"H-SHGAPE@h-net.msu.edu" "H-Net Gilded Age and Progressive Era List" 19-NOV-1997 23:17:40.53
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Subj: H-SHGAPE Digest - 18 Nov 1997 to 19 Nov 1997
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 14:51:55 -0500
From: "Ballard Campbell, H-SHGAPE" <CAMPBELL@neu.edu>
Subject: Review of Williams, "The Politics of the Gilded Age"
Review of Williams, "Politics in the Gilded Age"
Editor's note: this review differs from the customary form of our
bibliographical essays on the GAPE. In this instance I want to
call attention to R. Hal William's essay, which recently appeared
in print, but which fits admirably into our GAPEBIB series.
R. Hal Williams, "The Politics of the Gilded Age" in John F.
Marzalek and Wilson D. Miscamble, eds., American Political
History: Essays on the State of the Discipline (Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1997), 108-142.
R. Hal Williams has undertaken a stock-taking of writing about
"The Politics of the Gilded Age." The subject, he notes, "has
been known to empty a room in a matter of seconds." But perhaps
not as often these days as formerly, for Williams reports a
revival of interest in the topic in recent years. The new
scholarship in the field, he contends, "has almost completely
revised our view of the politics of the Gilded Age."
To illustrate the point Williams surveyed recent works on
elections, voters and parties, governing activities (especially
at the state and local levels), gender and politics, and social
issues in politics and policy. He ended the piece with musings
about the unfinished agenda in the field. His citations to his
text represent an comprehensive guide to the literature on these
topics. The article and its notes can serve as the place to start
in identifying important titles in the field.
Williams argues that doubt has surfaced regarding the
traditional, one-sided indictments of late nineteenth century
politics. He acknowledges that venal dimensions of civic life in
the period existed, as indeed, they are hard to miss. "But the
pendulum of Gilded Age political historiography has clearly
swung."
One wonders whether the statement is a reflection on how the
majority of historians currently view the period or a brave
prediction. If Williams' sense of the profession's mind is
accurate, he has detected a sea change historical interpretation.
The other essays in the volume also warrant reading. They are:
Carl Degler, "History Counts."
Jane Sherron De Hart, "Women's History and Political History"
Michael Les Benedict, "The Politics of Reconstruction"
