The “Internationalization” of U.S. History: A Progress Report for World Historians

As the field of world history grew in the 1990s, so did a comparable effort by American historians to “internationalize” the study of U.S. history. Four new books show the considerable strides that have been made in showing how the global context of American events not only adds to U.S. history but also changes some of the ways in which professors and students see the United States and its role in the world. World historians too can learn from and contribute to this intellectual trend.