In the American Grain.

The article discusses the book "Culture As History: The Transformation of American Society in the Twentieth Century," by Warren I. Susman. If analytical models and quantitative techniques borrowed from the social sciences have challenged easy assumptions and cleaned up sloppy thinking they have also been a mixed blessing for the writing of history. While most historians huddle in these bunkers, defending ever smaller patches of real estate, there is and has always been a more fruitful way to conceive of the writing of history.