The American experiment

[This book] offers students a thorough, detailed look at American history ... Using an expansive definition of political history, the text explores the evolution of a distinctive American culture in a transnational context. [This] edition features ... greater attention to colonial America's place in the Atlantic World, and to the nation's role as a member of a global community from the Early Republic to the Presidency of George W. Bush. A new essay feature, "Competing Interpretations," exposes students to debates among historians, encouraging them to think critically about how and why historians have disagreed.-Back cover.