Marc Egnal

Since my days as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College in the early 1960s, my passion has been to understand the United States and its past. I’ve brought to that quest a willingness to challenge accepted hypotheses and a resolve to do the hard work needed to test alternative explanations. Three of my six books (the ones on the Revolution, Civil War, and novels) took more than ten years to research and write. The others were also long-term projects. I’m also concerned about writing well. A history book should engage readers as well as informing them.

My works dispute familiar narratives. A Mighty Empire suggests the Revolution was not about “liberty,” while Clash of Extremes argues that “freedom” was not the key to the Civil War. In both cases, I highlight the self-interested motives of upper-class expansionists. In A Mirror for History I contend that novels and art are the best source for understanding the outlook of the American middle class. Two of my other works compare growth in Canada and the United States, emphasizing the impact of culture.

Finally, my most recent book, Challenging the Myths of US History, brings together my research and thinking for the past 60 years. Its seven essays explore the question of progress in the writing of history, the origins of the American Revolution, the causes of the Civil War, the sources of violence in the US, the reasons for US involvement in Vietnam, the nature of the women’s movement, and why Donald Trump has such strong support..