A provocative new book that shows us why we must put American history firmly in a global context--from 1492 to today
Americans like to tell their country's story as if the United States were naturally autonomous and self-sufficient, with characters, ideas, and situations unique to itself. Thomas Bender asks us to rethink this "exceptionalism" and to reconsider the conventional narrative. He proposes that America has grappled with circumstances, doctrines, new developments, and events that other nations, too, have faced, and that we can only benefit from recognizing this.
Bender's exciting argument begins with the discovery of the Americas at a time when peoples everywhere first felt the transforming effects of oceanic travel and trade. He then reconsiders our founding Revolution, occurring in an age of rebellion on many continents; the Civil War, happening when many countries were redefining their core beliefs about the nature of freedom and the meaning of nationhood; and the later imperialism that pitted the United States against Germany, Spain, France, and England. Industrialism and urbanization, laissez-faire economics, capitalism and socialism, and new technologies are other factors that Bender views in the light of global developments.
A Nation Among Nations is a passionate, persuasive book that makes clear what damage is done when we let the old view of America alone in the world falsify our history. Bender boldly challenges us to think beyond our borders.

• We started tracking this book on November 17, 2025.
• This book was $10.45 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 8 times in the past 135 days.
• The current price of this book is $10.63 last checked 22 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past 90 days is $1.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on January 9, 2026.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $10.63 last reached on March 21, 2026.
• This book has been $10.63 3 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its highest price since we started tracking it.

• HistoryAmericasUnited States
• HistoryModern (16th-21st Centuries)
• HistoryWorld
• HistoryUnited States

• Publication Date: December 12, 2006
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 385 Pages
• File Size: 26 KB