Pulitzer Prize History Winner

The Life of the Mind in America

by Perry Miller

Summary

Miller examines the intellectual currents that ran through the young American republic, from religious revivals and evangelical fervor to the rise of law, science, and technology. Drawing on his deep study of Puritan thought, he charts how ideas about reason, nature, and the mind shaped national life between the Revolution and the Civil War. The book remained unfinished at his death yet stands as a landmark of American intellectual history.

Historical Context & Significance

Perry Miller died in 1963 leaving the book incomplete, and it received the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1966 after his death.