Empire of Liberty by Gordon Wood

I picked this book up because it is written by the only college level history professor I ever had, and I was intrigued by the time period it covers. I have read a number of things in the past year that encompass of book end the 25 years of American post-revolutionary history that Wood covers (1789-1815): 'Plain, Honest Men', '1776', Walter Isaacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin, 'An Artist in Treason', and the Andre Jackson biography 'American Lion', to name a few.
I did read a book by this author as a student, but I definitely did not appreciate how well he writes--the book is over 900 pages, with 700+ pages devoted to the story. It is almost unliftable, and I read much of it sitting at a table so as to not have to hold it in my hands. This book is clearly written, with an eye towards telling a story in an entertaining manner as much as to covering the history and mood of an emerging nation. I loved the descriptions of the people of the early republic, how it grew in size and scope very early on, how quickly the shackles of monarchy could be shed (by 1815, the vast majority of the population was under 40 and had grown up in the New World), and the sources of growing tensions between the North and the South that developed rather rapidly over the time covered. This is a wonderful read, and highly recommended.