Without a doubt, the teaching of American history has changed since George Billias and Gerald Grob first issued Interpretations of American History, a comprehensive introduction to the major debates and schools of thought within the field of American history. For this ninth edition, Francis G. Couvares has thoroughly updated the text to include both developments in scholarly debate and changes in the format. He has consolidated two chapters on the revolutionary era into one, and he has also merged formerly separate chapters on profit and commerce in the trading of human beings and the complex and resilient culture that enslaved people sustained. Additionally, he has written a completely new chapter on environmental history and updated the final chapters of the text to include recent scholarship that connects the history of the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Lives Matter Movement; scholarship that discusses intersectionality within feminism, and recent work on political realignment and fragmentation.

In a major revision to the format, Couvares has omitted excerpts of scholarly articles. However, for curious students or research assignments, he includes ample current references. Further, this updated edition anticipates electronic reading of discrete chapters rather than the entire book, and each chapter stands alone well enough to be assigned individually.