"If one laughs when David Hackett Fischer sits down to play, one will
stay to cheer. His book must be read three times: the first in anger,
the srcond in laughter, the third in respect....The wisdom is expressed
with a certin ruthlessness. Scarcly a major historian escapes unscathed.
Ten thousand members of the AmericanHistorical Association will rush to
the index and breathe a little easier to find their names absent.