"By taking the thinking of enslaved and free blacks no less seriously than that of those who had come to constitute a ruling race, Douglas Egerton has gone far toward redrawing the boundaries of what traditionally has been segregated in intellectual, social, or military history. In the process, Egerton reveals much, not only about the making of the United States, but of the historian's craft. Students and specialists alike will find much of value in this historiographical gem." -- Norrece T. Jones, Jr., Virginia Commonwealth University"Egerton's collection displays his prowess as a social and political historian." -- Philip Schwarz, The Journal of Southern History