Edmund J. James and the Making of the Modern University of Illinois, 1904-1920

“Skillfully completed by David Hoeveler, this book completes Winton Solberg’s extraordinary, three-volume history of the early years of the University of Illinois, where he for so long taught. Centering on President Edmund James’s ‘institutional transformation’ between 1904 and 1920, it’s a major, distinctive contribution to the history of American higher education and the public university ideal. It's unlikely to be surpassed.”--James M. Banner Jr., The Ever-Changing Past: Why All History Is Revisionist History

“The University of Illinois was the quintessential state university in the early twentieth century. Edmund James, the foremost public university president of the era, elevated the institution into the ranks of the new research universities, including membership in the Association of American Universities. He also fostered an abundant collegiate regime that included the gamut of student activities. In this volume David Hoeveler, a distinguished intellectual historian, has masterfully completed Winton Solberg’s life work in chronicling the history of the university as well as the intellectual and social life of this era.”--Roger L. Geiger, author of The History of American Higher Education: Culture, Careers, and Learning from the Founding to World War II