THE AMERICAN MIND (476 pp.)Henry Steele CommagerYale University ($5).
Most first-rate historians of the U.S. would not have had the temerity to use the title, The American Mind. Most critical readers of U.S. history will approach it warily. The American Mind moves in on an area that tempts and needs exploring, but Columbia Professor Henry Steele
Commager's fast look through the library stacks results in just what might have been expected: an academic catchall of social, literary and economic interpretations that illustrate the American mind less than they indicate Professor Commager's lack of time.
At 47, Author Commager is that rare, ebullient campus commentator...