This is a splendid book, by far the best to appear on the subject since the 1962 publication of Frederick Rudolph's The American College and University: A History. John Thelin's work will supplant Rudolph's as the dominant overview of the history of American higher education. Comprehensive but not encyclopedic, Thelin's account is interspersed with lively anecdotes and a creative emphasis on cultural history that will keep the attention of readers. It is a tour de force. -- Thomas G. Dyer, University of Georgia
John R. Thelin is University Research Professor and a member of the Educational Policy Studies Department at the University of Kentucky. His many books include Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics, also available from Johns Hopkins.
I do believe that the book is worthy of being the major new overview of U.S. higher education. -- Michael W. Simpson Education Review 2004 A readable and concise introduction to this subject, it propels audience members to develop an appreciation for the heterogeneous... academe story as a whole. -- Todd C. Ream Teachers College Record Apart from being first-rate historical interpretation, Thelin's book offers several advantages that should make it attractive to the general reader as well as the scholar... His writing is brisk, concise, and humorous... Part public policy analyst and part social historian, Mr. Thelin weaves a tight narrative that keeps moving. He gives you the view from the administrative building, and he also tells you, often with accompanying photos, what students were like. -- Art Jester Lexington Herald-Leader This book was extremely well written and meticulously documented. NACADA Well written and engaging... retains the reader's attention... Thelin has raised the bar for historians of higher education to clear. -- Theodore J. Weidner Faciities Manager 2005 Thelin offers an historical analysis of contemporary trends and issues in higher education today, e.g., access, affordability, accountability, and assessment. How colleges addressed those issues within different periods of time and societal contexts makes for a more enlightened image of higher education in the US as it exists today. Choice 2005 Fills a real need in the scholarship... Accessible and informative, providing a reasonable foundation on which to build a rich understanding of the development of American higher education. -- Julie A. Reuben Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 2004 Destined to be the standard work in this area for years to come. -- James J. Rhatigan Journal of College Student Development 2006 Despite its age, Rudolph's single-volume history has endured... Now John Thelin's A History of American Higher Education provides a worthy replacement. -- Jana Nidiffer History of Education Quarterly 2006
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