A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Characterized by social upheavals, rapid industrialization, and unprecedented economic growth, the long Gilded Age and Progressive Era represents one of the most fascinating and instructive times in American history. A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era presents a collection of new historiographic and historical essays covering the years between 1877 and 1920, a period which saw the U.S. emerge from the ashes of Reconstruction to become a world power. Featuring contributions from top scholars writing in their field of expertise, essays explore this critical period of America s past from a variety of innovative approaches and scholarly lenses: social, cultural, economic, political, diplomatic, ethnic, racial, gendered, religious, global, and ecological. Essays provide a multi–faceted and in–depth compendium of the rich scholarship that offers interpretations of the history and historiography of the period, as well as assessments of current leading works on its key themes, topics, and individuals. After providing an overview of events that paved the way to the Gilded Age in different regions of the country, essays explore general topics relating to such themes as sexuality, race, science and technology, education, and more. Readings focus on government, politics, and law, and feature essays on the period s presidents, concluding with Woodrow Wilson. After considering the relationship between the U.S. and the rest of the world, the final essays evaluate major works of and about the era and address the era s relevance today. A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era is an essential resource that adds immeasurably to the body of knowledge about one of the most important periods of U.S. history.

Christopher McKnight Nichols is Associate Professor of History at Oregon State University. He is author of the award–winning book, Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age (2011), co–editor of Prophesies of Godlessness: Predictions of America s Imminent Secularization from the Puritans to the Present Day (2008), and Senior Editor of the two volume Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History (2013).

Nancy C. Unger is Professor of History at Santa Clara University. She is the author of Beyond Nature s Housekeepers: American Women in Environmental History (2012) and the award–winning biographies Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer (2000), and Belle La Follette: Progressive Era Reformer (2016).