Introduction : The myth of the new history of education and the progress principle
1. Ideology and historical practice in early America. Puritans and planters
From Puritan to Whig
Histories of education in the revolutionary era
2. The Whig tradition. Whig revisionism
From revision to tradition
3. Educational history as professional science. From Christendom to civilization
National identity and global consciousness
Educational historiography on the margins of civilization
4. Influence and contextualization in the twentieth century. Cubberley and the historical profession
The forgotten collaboration between historians and schoolmen
5. Diversity and controversy in the twentieth century. Pioneers of black educational history
The flowering of women's educational historiography
The Whig interpretation under fire
6. Why Bailyn was right despite being wrong. Eggleston, Davidson, and the search for an alternative to Whiggism
The death of progress and the end of educational history
Bailyn in context
A surprisingly limited legacy.