Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0679722238, Paperback)

In this provocative new collection, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel J. Boorstin explores the essential "hidden history" of the American experience that is overlooked by most historians. In twenty-four essays -- divided into five sections, "The Quest for History," "A By-Product Nation," "The Rhetoric of Democracy," "Unsung Experiments," and "The Momentum of Technology" -- Daniel J. Boorstin examines significant rhythms, patterns, and institutions of everyday American life: from his intimate portraits of such legendary figures as Paul Revere, Abigail Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, to more expansive discussions of historical phenomena, such as the Therapy of Distance and the Law of Survival of the Unread.

"His flair for the vivid anecdote, fresh points of view and understanding of the dramatic relationship of ideas have made him the most readable of our eminent historians." -- Clifton Fadiman

"I have learned a great deal about the USA from Professor Boorstin.... He knows this country of ours as few historians know it."