For more than twenty-five years, After the Fact has provided a time-tested, innovative approach to guiding students through American history and the methods used to study it. In dramatic episodes that move chronologically through American history, this best-selling book examines a broad variety of topics like oral evidence, photographs, ecological data, films and television programs, church and town records, census data, and novels. Whether for the introductory survey or for a historical methods course, After the Fact is the ideal text for any instructor who wants to introduce his or her students to what it is that historians actually do when studying American history.