Notre Dame Press has an extensive backlist of American history from a wide range of scholars. Here we’re thrilled to highlight three of them and their specific works with the topics of Catholicism, political thought, and Latino Studies.
Robert Schmuhl, Jay P. Dolan, and Julian Samora all contributed scholarship to the important field of American history. Each of these authors were eminent professors, teaching at the University of Notre Dame and leaving a lasting impression on the campus.
Below are highlights from six titles, two from each author, that focus in on a different topic under the broad heading of American history. Schmuhl carries the political focus with insights on the American political system and its leaders, while Dolan specializes in the Catholic focus, the history of the faith and its impact in America. Samora gives us a look at the Latino focus, delving into the history of Mexican Americans and those who make their home in the Southwestern states.
Political Focus: Robert Schmuhl
Robert Schmuhl is the Walter H. Annenberg-Edmund P. Joyce Chair in American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame, where he has taught since 1980. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Fifty Years with Father Hesburgh: On and Off the Record and In So Many More Words: Arguments and Adventures, Expanded Edition.
The Glory and the Burden:
The American Presidency from the New Deal to the Present,
Expanded Edition
Robert Schmuhl chronicles the American presidency for nearly a century, providing a compelling picture of how the functions of the office and who occupies it have changed over the decades.
“The expanded edition of Robert Schmuhl’s The Glory and the Burden is an urgent and necessary read for anyone craving context and understanding of the American presidency at a volatile time for U.S. democracy. If you’re asking yourself daily about why American politics and the presidency have become so troubled, this book is your answer.”
—Robert Costa, co-author of #1 New York Times best seller Peril and chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News
Statecraft and Stagecraft:
American Political Life in the Age of Personality,
Second Edition
In this second edition of Statecraft and Stagecraft, Robert Schmuhl brings up to date his provocative exploration of the involvement of the media in our public life by including a new chapter on the Persian Gulf War.
“In a short, accessible and entertaining sequence of essays, Schmuhl… deals with the interplay between politics and modern communication, between substance and image.”
—Chicago Tribune
Catholic Focus: Jay P. Dolan
Jay P. Dolan was a Professor of History and Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. He is now Professor Emeritus of History. Previous publications include The Immigrant Church: New York’s Irish and German Catholics, 1815-1865.
Catholic Revivalism:
The American Experience, 1830–1900
Jay P. Dolan’s Catholic Revivalism: The American Experience, 1830–1900 details the history of the Catholic Church in America by showing that revivalism, traditionally viewed as a Protestant phenomenon, was also a central feature of Catholic life and activity in the 19th century.
“This is a groundbreaking book that throws new light on the history of the Catholic Church. Drawing on a wide variety of published and unpublished sources, Dolan has succeeded in showing that revivalism, traditionally viewed as a Protestant phenomenon, was also a central feature of Catholic life and activity in the nineteenth century.”
—Heythrop Journal
The American Catholic Experience:
A History from Colonial Times to the Present
Spanning nearly 500 years, The American Catholic Experience describes the Catholic experience from the arrival of Columbus and the other European explorers to the present day.
“This book … will quickly capture your attention, and engage your mind, and make you think what it meant—and means—to be ‘a Catholic in America.’ This book cannot be ‘recommended.’ It must be labeled ‘essential.’”
—Spirituality Today
Latino Focus: Julian Samora
Julian Samora (1920–1996) was professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Samora was the author of numerous books, including Los Mojados.
In this research into one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States today, past, present, and future are thoroughly examined and the conclusion is one of current activity and future development. The results of this study indicate that the Spanish-speaking people are achieving a new sophistication in terms of education, the labor market, action programs, minority status, and language.
A History of the Mexican-American People:
Revised Edition
This new, revised edition of the book continues the history of Mexican-Americans up to the early 1990s. Samora covers such topics as the exploration and northward Spanish expansion into what is now the United States, Mexico’s independence from Spain, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War, the impact of the Mexican Revolution on both sides of the border, and the effect of mass migrations from Mexico to the United States.
“The Mexican-Americans, products of cultural amalgamation over the centuries, have made substantial contributions to the historical and social make-up of the United States, and this work is an objective examination of this role and their ongoing quest for social justice and interaction with North America.”
—British Bulletin of Publications