In the Past Lane Historical Perspectives on American Culture [Paperback]

Michael Kammen is widely regarded as one of our most important--and most diversely talented--cultural historians. David Brion Davis has said, No other historian of [his] generation has such a broad and concrete grasp of 'American culture' in all its manifestations, from constitutional law to formal painting and popular culture. This engaging volume stands as rich and compelling evidence of that assertion.In the Past Lanecollects writings from a span of more than ten years, covering the broad spectrum of Kammen's recent interests. Essay topics include the role of the historian, the relationship between culture and the State, uses of tradition in American commercial culture, American historical art, memory distortion in American history, the contested uses of history in American education, and others. The book will be seen as an important contribution to Kammen's wide-ranging scholarship--and to American cultural history proper.

For professional historians or serious students of history, Kammen's essays provide an excellent opportunity to gauge how those who chronicle our past both influence and are influenced by national and personal experiences. --Booklist

I. The Personal and the Professional
1. Personal Identity and the Historian's Vocation
II. Perceptions of Culture and Public Life
2. Culture and the State of America
3. Temples of Justice: The Iconography of Judgement and American Culture
4. Our Idealism is Practical : Emerging Uses of Tradition in American Commercial Culture, 1889-1936
5. The Enduring Challenges and Changing Role of Cultural Institutions
III. Changing Perceptions of the Past
6. Myth, Memory, and Amnesia in American Historical Art
7. The Problem of American Exceptionalism: A Reconsideration
8. Some Patterns and Meanings of Memory Distortion in American History
9. History Is Our Heritage: The Past in Contemporary American Culture