In tracing the historical enterprise in the United States, Townsend takes us through the periods of 1880 to 1910, 1911 to 1925, and 1926 to 1940, showing us the flourishing of American historical activity.  In the specialization that emerged in the third period, archivists, school teachers, and historical societies found professional niches, distinct from academics.  The branching out of the historical enterprise fascinated me about the book.  It shows that public interest in history is sufficient to support professional niches.  While Townsend's work does justice to the evolution of the "historical enterprise," he does not quite tell us what history is. 

In my thinking about history, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle comes to mind.  The record of military victories and ascensions to the throne, the glory of the crown and holiness of the altar, in short, the events that forged nations make me want to know what happened.  Reading Townsend's account was engaging, but in a bureaucratic kind of way.  Classmate M. Plourde writes, "The bureaucratic machine seems to swallow the humanity that is so desperately needed to study history from the perspective of those that lived it."  History is about humans.  While professionalization is good insofar as history becomes an ordered form of work, eyes must be kept firmly on the beneficiaries of the profession.

Being my first year as a graduate student, knowing the progression of American historical activity is very important.  I'm sure that if I meet a high school history teacher at a conference, I will now have something to talk about.  In any case, Townsend's work helps the reader understand the projection of historical activity, detailing the difficulties of the American Historical Association in collecting and disseminating information, criticizing the specialization of academics, and marking the symbiotic relationship between state governments and historical societies.  He lets us know how things got to be the way they are, from "gentleman historians" to "research men,"  from bumpkin pedagogues to licensed instructors, and from amateur collectors to government archivists.  Admittedly, he does not tell us what history is.  The human face of the discipline is conspicuously absent.  But then, it is not the purpose of his work.