“Most of our teaching materials have morphed into four-color glossy multimedia extravaganzas with interactive features, hot-links, and ‘chat with the author’ interfaces that confront students with a food court of undifferentiated choices. But these new volumes look like and read like books. Without reverting to a pompous omniscience, which so often mars this kind of effort, these books manage to exhibit many perspectives and voices in a narrative that provokes discussion and invites reflection.… This is an extraordinary achievement by a master teacher and writer of American history. Modestly priced in paperback, the e-book is available for free at the University of Chicago Press website. Where can you find a better deal than that?”—Journal of the Early American Republic

Information for Instructors

Suitable for introductory college or advanced high school courses, Building the American Republic represents the first time a quality, peer-reviewed American history textbook from a major publisher has been made available absolutely free of charge in e-book form.

See below to evaluate each volume in e-book form or contact us for a print examination copy. Thank you for considering Building the American Republic for your courses.

Bridging the Gap

We understand that instructors may choose to end a course prior to the Civil War, or begin a course starting with the Civil War. To accommodate variations in course syllabi, we have made the Civil War and Reconstruction chapter (Vol. 1, Chapter 15) available as a separate PDF download.

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“Learned and inviting, this beautifully realized consideration of the American experience deploys the craft of history to advance a profound account of fundamental themes. By integrating political, social, demographic, and economic understanding, the combination of analysis and narrative power in Building the American Republic will prove stimulating to teachers as well as their students.”—Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University

Information for accessibility officers

Questions? See our Building the American Republic FAQ

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