American Heritage: Great Minds of History Book

Academic historians tend to favor their colleagues who can unearth an element, no matter how minute, that casts a particular event or era in a new light. For the rest of us, these "narrative historians, are just fine.
Roger Mudd takes five of our best historians through their paces. His questions provoke a great deal of illumination of places and events key to American history and he elicits what makes each of them so enthusiastic about their life's work.
Easy to read in short bursts but compelling throughout.