In the course of his careful, very readable, analysis of Obama's vision of America Professor Sarson performs yet another service for history buffs. He does a fine, jargon-free, job of summarizing decades of scholarship in ways that are both accessible to lay readers and give a sense of why we historians, like President Obama, believe history matters. * Ronald Walters, Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University, USA * In this timely and brilliant book, Steven Sarson uncovers Barack Obama's compassionate, coherent conception of his nation's past: a story of a people striving for unity out of diversity, and which, through trial and tribulation has progressed. Written in lucid, engaging prose by a masterful historian with a deep understanding of both Obama and the history he tells, this book offers much-needed hope as well as understanding. It is essential reading for anyone who cares about America and is interested in why its past is so bound up with its present. * Adam Smith, Senior Lecturer in History, University College London, UK * Through a fascinating and thoroughly researched accounting, Sarson's book gives us the American history that Barack Obama wrote and spoke about throughout his public life. That history is the foundation for the "hope" that Obama famously invoked with such regularity. How could Obama continue to insist on hope as a theme, given how much he knows about America's darkest past? Sarson argues convincingly that Obama's American history is a key to the political history of our time. * Karin Wulf, Professor of History, College of William and Mary, USA *
