Founding Visions

“Banning’s skill as an essayist shines” in this collection of writing on the foundation of the American republic (San Francisco Book Review).

Lance Banning was assembling this collection of his best and most representative writings on the Founding era when his untimely death stalled the project just short of its completion. Now, thanks to the efforts of editor Todd Estes, this illuminating resource is finally available. Founding Visions showcases the work of a historian who shaped the intellectual debates of his time. Featuring a foreword by Gordon S. Wood, the volume presents Banning’s most seminal and insightful essays to a new generation of students, scholars, and general readers.

“Lance Banning’s balanced but penetrating view of historical materials makes him a vital mediator in scholarly disputes, one who knows how to bring light rather than heat to controversies better understood as joint contributions. . . . Every historian, whether beginning or advanced, will benefit from reading this book.” —Robert A. Ferguson, Columbia University, author of Reading the Early Republic

“Banning’s impeccable scholarship has shaped the way we think about early American history, and the essays in this volume show him at the peak of his very considerable powers.” —Peter S. Onuf, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, author of The Origins of the Federal Republic: Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787

“Exemplary.” —Journal of Southern History

“The work represents an impressive collection that is an essential companion to any serious student of the intellectual issues of the early Republic.” —Southern Historian