I wrote the following post in part for a series at HOTCUS called “Teaching America.” It will soon be cross-posted there along with a contribution from Andrew Hartman (among others). I can’t help but admire social historians when they write with great specificity and detail about the lives of people, weaving choices and actions into a drama that often takes place on a grand historical stage such as the Great Depression, or World War II, or the national crises of the 1970s. Recently I have been guiding students through a reading of two excellent social histories of the 1970s, Jefferson Read more