This Land Is Your Land

Reviews / Votes

'As a historiographic guide to the US - the story of a nation as told by "its museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, monuments, living history pageants, battlefield reenactments and souvenir shops" - it's pretty great.' The Times 'As a guide, she is necessarily inviting; as a historian, she knows that none of the attempts to fulfil the Declaration's promise of freedom and equality has ever come easily.' New York Times 'An accomplished historian and a capable writer. This Land Is Your Land touches impressionistically on a huge cast of characters, from Frederick Douglass to Henry Ford, and some 300 sites, from Mount Vernon to Disneyland. Her book will give history enthusiasts ideas for future vacations.' Wall Street Journal 'To go on the road with Beverly Gage is to travel America with a wise and companionable guide who unpacks the stories that are both offered and concealed at the museums, monuments, and souvenir shops where Americans come face-to-face with their past. Gage has a gift for reframing familiar stories and finding forgotten characters who capture a moment. By showing how much contestation the past generated, This Land is Your Land leaves readers hopeful that the country will survive today's conflicts, too.' Barbara J. Keys, author of Reclaiming American Virtue 'Pulitzer Prize winner Gage offers a gregarious travelogue turned history lesson, turned lesson on how history is made. It's a marvellous deep dive into the American psyche.' Publishers Weekly