De Santis is the preeminent scholar on this period of American history. His book, in all its earlier editions, has been a standard
in this field for many years. It would be difficult to improve upon this book. If it has a shortcoming, it is that the book is too brief. Many readers will find that an attribute rather than a detracting feature. It is an excellent introduction to the period, giving a fine cross-section of the multiple issues of this most complex time in American history. One could easily make the case that this era is the most forgettable, least interesting, and therefore most difficult to grasp intellectually of any era in American history. Considering that argument, one could also reasonably conclude that there has yet to be written a genuinely comprehensive yet readable account of this period. Until one is written, De Santis's book will suffice.