Land of Promise is another Big Fat Book: 594 pages. Michael Lind traces economics in the U.S. from the beginning of the nation to our current economic meltdown. All the principle players–Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, the Roosevelts, LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushs, Obama–strut on Lind’s stage. It’s an almost impossible task to describe the complete economic history of the U.S. in a relatively compact 600-page book, but Lind’s survey is the most readable and lucid that I’ve read. This is economic history at its best. GRADE: A