Some people fall into both categories, but a large number of historians whom I have never met were essential to this work. You might say that I have come to feel as if I know some of them, simply because their books and essays were so important to me. I have tried in both the text and the endnotes to honor all my sources. But I’d like to offer a brief bibliographic essay to call attention to particular works and writers who were especially important to me as I wrote this book. I fell in love with American history when I was young, and I begin by thanking two exceptional high school American history teachers, Jim Garman and Norm Hess, who nurtured that affection. They taught me early on that there are competing accounts of the American story, that we can view ourselves through many prisms, and that there is ample room for argument about core events in our past, including the choices our forebears made, both individually and collectively. Books that Jim and Norm encouraged me to read had a lasting influence, perhaps none more so than William E.
What do You think about Our Divided Political Heart?
