American History Now collects 18 original historiographic essays that survey recent scholarship in American history and trace the shifting lines of interpretation and debate in the field.

The new generation of historians showcased in American History Now posed new questions and developed new approaches to scholarship to revise the prevailing interpretations of the chronological periods from the colonial era to the Reagan years. Covering the established subfields of women's history, African American history, and immigration history, the book also considers the history of capitalism, Native American history, environmental history, religious history, cultural history, and the history of the United States in the world.