The American Century: A History of the United States Since the 1890s

The new edition of this classic text on modern U.S. history seamlessly blends political, social, cultural, intellectual, and economic themes into an authoritative and readable account of America’s national story since the 1890s.

Written by four highly respected scholars, this book has been fully updated with new coverage of the Trump and Biden presidencies, the culture wars, deep political polarization, and the crisis of democracy. The text’s most distinctive quality is its close attention to both history within the United States and the relationships the country has forged with the rest of the world. The eighth edition remains engaging and approachable while continuing to include the most recent scholarship. Each chapter contains a special feature section devoted to cultural topics including the arts and architecture, sports and recreation, technology, and education. Web links to additional online resources accompany each feature, offering complementary learning opportunities to students.

While carefully attending to the complexity of history, The American Century traces the long roots of some of the most pressing current issues in the United States and continues to be a compelling resource for students of recent American history.

Robert D. Johnston is Professor of History and Director of the Teaching of History Program at the University of Illinois Chicago. An award-winning teacher, he has authored and co-edited several books, including The Radical Middle Class: Populist Democracy and the Question of Capitalism in Progressive Era Portland, Oregon (2003).

Walter LaFeber was the Andrew Tisch and James Tisch University Professor Emeritus at Cornell University. His publications included The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1750 and Inevitable Revolutions: The United States and Central America. He was a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell.

Richard Polenberg was the Marie Underhill Noll Professor Emeritus of American History at Cornell University. His publications included The World of Benjamin Cardozo and The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945. He was a recipient of the Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching and was a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell.

Nancy Woloch is a Research Scholar in the History Department, Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the prizewinning author of A Class by Herself: Protective Laws for Women Workers, 1890s-1990s. Her books include Women and the American Experience: A Concise History, Muller v. Oregon, Early American Women, and Eleanor Roosevelt: In Her Words.