Dreams of a More Perfect Union

Dreams of a More Perfect Union is something truly remarkable—a nuanced, subtle examination of the idea of union in American thought. Rogan Kersh... begins by noting a puzzling fact. Although union was a powerful concept in the minds and hearts of a wide variety of Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, by the dawn of the twentieth century, it had all but faded away.... It is difficult to do justice to the complex story that Kersh tells.... In its rigor of analysis, depth of research, and clarity of exposition, it is the definitive study of its subject. Moreover, it deserves respectful attention as a methodological benchmark for all future studies of concepts in the history of American political thought.

* Journal of American History *

Incredibly, scant attention has been paid to the concept of union itself as an adhesive force for building a national community divided by geography, section, economy, and race. Rogan Kersh seeks to fill this gap in scholarship and provide a means of reconciling the competing republican and liberal interpretations with his excellent Dreams of a More Perfect Union.... While it was published before the attacks of September 11, it has a particular immediate relevance.... At a time when some American leaders are encouraging strong government and robust national patriotism as a means of self-definition, perhaps a reading of this work and a contemplation of their nineteenth-century forebears would point to a less abrasive form of self-expression.

* Australian Journal of Politics and History *

Rogan Kersh provides an insightful history of the concept of 'union' in American political and popular discourse.... As Kersh amply demonstrates, the scholarly oversight of union has been unfortunate. Understanding the concept of union is essential to understanding American politics from before the American Revolution until well after Reconstruction.... Kersh provides a fascinating and useful political and intellectual history of the concept of union in the United States, and his account will be of great interest to students of American political thought and nineteenth-century American politics.

* American Historical Review *

Kersh boldly asserts that union was as important a concept as republicanism or democracy in shaping the political consciousness of the United States until well after the Civil War.... He outlines an original and sophisticated interpretation examining the way in which the concept of union united a diverse people who feared to consider themselves a 'nation' under a centralized government.

* Choice *

No other concept—Americanism, nationalism, the state—can capture both the sentiments and purposes that union did. Union was, of course, a facade that hid self-interest... but it was also a way to express both national identity and diversity in a systematic fashion. It is far to early to speculate whether expressions such as 'United We Stand' will bring back union talk let alone if desirable forms will emerge. In any case, Rogan Kersh's Dreams of a More Perfect Union would be an excellent guide in any such effort.

* Utopian Studi