Book Review

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 128 words from this article are provided below; about 363 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, 86.2 | The History Cooperative

Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth. By Marc Egnal. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. xvi, 300 pp. Cloth, $45.00, isbn 0-19-509866-8. Paper, $17.95, isbn 0-19-510906-6.)

In a world in which too many academic historians spend more and more time investigating smaller and smaller events, we should be thankful for Marc Egnal's Divergent Paths. Egnal here looks at the big picture and has produced a provocative, ambitious, and curious book about the nature of economic development in North America (excluding Mexico) from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. His argument will probably be applauded by some and scorned by others, but he will make his readers think about why the "paths" of economic development took different courses in specific regions. . . .

There are about 363 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.