The American Archipelago : A New Edition of Oscar Handlin’s Classic Anthology, 'This Was America'

Abstract

Oscar Handlin (1915–2011), one of the most influential historians of the twentieth century, reshaped the study of American history with a career spanning more than forty books. Best known for 'The Uprooted' (1951), his groundbreaking work on immigration, Handlin was equally a generalist whose insights reached nearly every corner of the American past. The collection at hand, Handlin’s classic anthology 'This Was America', first published in 1949, gathers Europeans’ travel accounts and perspectives on America from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Rather than presenting a single narrative, Handlin emphasizes variety: contrasting impressions of liberty and inequality, restlessness and rootedness, optimism and critique by people arriving from diverse European backgrounds. His free translations and selective introductions guide readers subtly but leave interpretation open. Over time, these essays shift meaning depending on context—once read as a celebration of American life, they now invite more critical reflection. This new edition reimagines America not as a singular whole but as an “archipelago”: a collection of diverse experiences, perceptions, and contradictions. The metaphor underscores the interplay between unity and multiplicity in American identity. Students, historians, anthropologists, and literary scholars alike will find in these essays a vivid, sometimes unsettling, mosaic of how America has been seen from abroad—raising as many questions as answers, and encouraging readers to reflect on the nation’s complexity anew.