Barry Alan Shain is Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University.
"Barry Shain is perhaps not so much an anti-liberal as a general
trouble-maker....He studies the year 1760-90, and he finds this
period very much different from the one characterized by
individualism which liberals have portrayed. On the other hand, he
finds no secular republicanism of the kind celebrated by Hannah
Arendt and the 'communitarians' she has inspired."---Harvey
Mansfield, The Times Literary Supplement
"Shain has gone a considerable way toward illustrating how
America's `lively experiment' was defined by profoundly Protestant,
communitarian, and localist impulses. A must-read for scholars of
colonial religion and politics."---Mark S. Massa, Theological
Studies
"This book demolishes a central tenet of American civil mythology.
. . . The author displays impressive command over a wide range of
primary and secondary sources; his account moves seamlessly between
social history and political philosophy."---David Zaret, American
Journal of Sociology
"Shain's purpose is to articulate and defend for political
philosophy and understanding of the American past which has been
developing for several decades in social and intellectual history.
In this effort he is remarkably effective. . . . Shain's striking
conclusion is that the U.S. virtually backed into liberal
modernity. . . . the book raises a host of important and in many
ways novel questions."---William M. Sullivan, Canadian Philosphical
Review
"An impressive, well-argued, deeply researched book that enriches
our understanding of early American history and arm us for current
political struggles against the twin tendencies to cultural
nihilism and political centralization."---Eugene D. Genovese, First
Things
"With this tightly organized, carefully argued study, Barry Alan
Shain makes a major contribution to the contemporary debate over
the political ideology of the American Revolutionary ear."---Thomas
E. Buckley, Catholic Historical Review
"A fascinating work that does much to expose the hollowness of
early American individualism."---William J. Watkins, Jr.,
Chronicles
"In a provocative book, Barry Shain goes to great lengths to argue
against the common conception of an America based on the absolute
freedom of the individual to do as he or she sees fit. . . . Shain
concludes that individual liberties as conceived in 20th-century
America were not valued nearly as much as communal rights and
communal freedoms. . . . He is a sophisticated thinker and a
complex logician who impressively deconstructs the image of the
Revolution's unfettered individualism."---Zachary Karabell, Boston
Book Review
"Barry Shain is perhaps not so much an anti-liberal as a general
troublemaker determined to cause embarrassment on all sides. In The
Myth of American Individualism, he studies the years 1760-90, and
he finds this period very much different from the one characterized
by individualism which liberals have portrayed. On the other hand,
he finds no secular republicanism of the kind celebrated by Hannah
Arendt and the `communitarians' she has inspired."---Harvey
Mansfield, Times Literary Supplement
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