Volume 5, Number 3 · September 16, 1965
Survey Course
By Eric L. McKitrick
The Oxford History of the American People
by Samuel Eliot Morison
Oxford, 1150 pp., $12.50
A noticeable current that has run through nearly every effort made so far to deal publicly with this book is one of embarrassment. Does The Oxford History of the American People represent the ripe wisdom of an elder statesman, or the peppery collected crotchets of an academic Harry Truman? Is it really 'The' history of the American people, or an interminable string of dicta and anecdote—1122 pages—which takes its shape mainly from the personal preferences of Samuel Eliot Morison? What is its organizing principle, or does it have one? It appears to cover in some way everything from the pre-Columbian Indians to the death of President Kennedy. Does it—and if so, how? Everyone concedes that it has much literary grace. Yet even the 'grace' can be irritating, with its bluff heartiness, salty harrumphs, and the inane snatches of song at the end of each chapter. Can you talk about grace without reference to context? What if you don't like the songs, what if you'd rather not refer to Nathaniel Bacon as 'Nat' before you are properly introduced, what if the use of 'whilst' starts to get on your nerves? The book is full of common good sense. Yet one commentator in all genial indulgence couldn't resist calling it Polonius-like good sense. In short, what is the tone to take toward the old gentleman? The book, it appears, has become a best seller. Can it be that the distinguished historian—the old salt, the Brahmin, the man of rich culture—is trading on something that never quite got into the book? This is, I fear, by and large the case.
Review, 1682 words
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