Reviews for Land, conflict and the 'net of incorporation'

The average rating for Land, conflict and the 'net of incorporation' based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-09-19 00:00:00 Faye E. Hoffman Historical Surveys like "Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century" often exhibit a tendency to prize brevity over depth, as if one would "swim" in the ocean by wading into the water up to one's knees, eschewing the dangerous breakers on the horizon. However, Walter Licht's excellent, resource-rich overview of the role industry played in the history of the United States avoids this stunting effect by providing deep "dives" into the details of the time period in question. This has the much desired effect of making "real" the reader's understanding of the contradictory, confounding, and complex elements that went into the transformation of Jefferson's rural, yeoman-based republic into the corporation-dominated behemoth that strode the world like a colossus one hundred years later. To his credit, Dr. Licht does not neglect the essential role that the common people of the republic played in attempting to tame the grasping power of late industrial and financial giants like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, including essential chapters on these efforts. This is a wonderful, complete, rewarding read for all who are interested in the topic of U.S. History in general and 19th century U.S. existence in particular. A good read this is!

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-22 00:00:00 Hollie Mullen A very able synthesis, though it doesn't quite deliver on the pointed and (I felt) exciting promises of its introductory characterization of the period. Of course, it's almost impossible not to be overwhelmed by the amount of material Licht tries to cover. Many of the chapters would make for excellent readings for an undergraduate course.