A comprehensive study of American writer Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 1844-1911 Book

This book is deservedly considered the definitive authority on the Antebellum invention of centralized, state public school systems. The author tells a complex story succinctly and treats the main actors fairly (perhaps too fairly, with a frustrating and predictable tendency to point out reformers' flaws even when unnecessary). Occasionally he goes out of his way to address Marxist and other deconstructionist critiques. The time spent here is disproportionate, and means that he doesn't explore certain themes (like the allure of Prussian schools) deeply enough. But all in all these are minor quibbles with a masterly and very readable book.