The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume 2: The Long Nineteenth Century. (Book Reviews).

STANLEY L. ENGERMAN and ROBERT E. GALLMAN (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Volume 2: The Long Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, Pp.x + 1021, H/back ISBN 0 521 55307 5, [pounds sterling]60).

Cambridge University Press has brought together a galaxy of stars in its three-volume Economic History of the United States. In the second volume covering the long nineteenth century, from the American constitution to the First World War, the authors' task is to discuss not only the rapid national growth from neo-colonial status to leading world power, but also the academic productivity levels of their counterparts. The end results, as might be expected of a 17-chapter, 1,000-page tome, are mixed in quality, consistency of approach and readability and are at times repetitive, but the publishers will be delighted to see the finished product at last. They can be confident that this volume, like its companions on British North America and on the twentieth century, will be a necessary purchase for academic institutions offering courses on American economic history. The trilogy offers a very worthwhile factual, theoretical and historiographical resource for students and staff alike. It may not replace the now date d, but still useful, empirical Holt, Rinehart & Winston series, but it will certainly modernise and complement those volumes.

The long nineteenth …