| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 191 words from this article are provided below; about 362 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Inside Out, Outside In: Essays in Comparative History. By Robert Gregg. (New York: St. Martin's, 2000. xiv, 231 pp. $59.95, ISBN 0-312-21867-2.)

The dust jacket for Robert Gregg's essays mentions this work's quirky approach. Certainly it is unlike anything I have read on comparative history. A series of loosely connected pieces of varying length, mostly in the genre of reviews of works in imperial, race, and postcolonial studies, the book covers subjects from the methodology of comparative history to South African-U.S. race issues and to class, empire, and modern sports. Gregg goes against the grain of American comparative history. The national comparative approach, with its tendency to reinforce American distinctiveness or even exceptionalism, he rejects. Rather, Gregg seeks to illuminate American history by questioning the boundaries of comparison, by juxtaposing the unfamiliar, and by broadening the scope of inquiry beyond conventional subjects. Imperialism and its racial foundation is the key theme. Though the essays are often primarily about other places, there are insights here about American empire. They are the product of very wide reading; some choice passages are in highly discursive footnotes that should not be skipped. . . .

There are about 362 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.