Volume 37, Number 11 · June 28, 1990
Fin-de-Siècle America
By Paul Kennedy
The Myth of America's Decline: Leading the World Economy into the 1990s
by Henry R. Nau
Oxford University Press, 448 pp., $29.95
America's Economic Resurgence: A Bold New Strategy
by Richard Rosecrance
Harper and Row, 230 pp., $22.50
Peril and Promise: A Commentary on America
by John Chancellor
Harper and Row, 176 pp., $17.95
Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power
by Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Basic Books, 307 pp., $19.95
Of all the difficulties facing the historian in his task of understanding and describing the past, none can be greater than that of emphatically recreating the popular 'mood' attending any particular event or period. For example, in describing the Europe of 1914, it may be relatively easy for the historian to detail the day-by-day diplomatic moves, or to analyze the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each of the European armies and navies, or to scrutinize manufacturing output and commercial relations. All of these tangible aspects of history have left records—not perfect, to be sure, but usually adequate—in the form of letters, instructions, and statistical data from which reasonable conclusions may be drawn. In other words, we can historically know the structure of Anglo-German trade in 1914, just as we can know what telegrams entered and left the French Foreign Ministry.
Review, 8365 words
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