FROM GENTLEMAN'S CLUB TO PROFESSIONAL BODY

A history professor examines the evolution of the history department in the United States from 1940 to 1980.

The introduction is promising, transporting the reader to the Yale dining hall in 1940. Palmer then methodically discusses seven prestigious universities (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Wisconsin, Chicago and Columbia) providing a rundown of each school’s history departments. Unfortunately, this reads more like a categorical list than a thorough examination. The book is well-written, but it lacks an overarching narrative, charismatic characters and personal stories–elements that transform a work of nonfiction from a simple factual retelling into a meaningful read. It often feels repetitive–Palmer stresses the hiring of Jews, women and Catholics too many times to count and without enough retrospective included. The conclusions at the end of each chapter merely sum up the aforementioned facts and don’t paint a larger picture. He has acquired various original sources, including recent interviews with faculty who worked between 1940 and 1980, but even these tidbits are not as revealing as a reader would hope. Academia provides a wealth of opportunities for intriguing reading material–department infighting, preferential treatment, scandals and actions that “rock” the academic world–but Palmer only touches upon these elements superficially, perhaps out of respect for his living subjects. The book may appeal to history professors at the schools mentioned and perhaps to faculty members in other university history departments, but because the author does not put the transformation of the history department into a larger context, it will fail to hold the attention of those outside the academic world.

A nicely written effort, but tedious.