Allan Nevins was distinguished as a journalist, author, and history professor at Columbia University. His presidential address only lightly hints at the fact that he was noted for having one of the most contested relationships with the organization over which he later presided. In an effort to bring the "guild historians" together with "nonacademic historians," Nevins proposed the creation of a journal of popular history to the AHA Council in 1938. After the Council rejected the idea, Nevins acted to create a separate organization, the Society of American Historians, "To promote literary distinction in historical writing." He also attacked the pedantry of many academic historians in the Saturday Review of Literature, which produced a sharp rift in the profession. Nevins own distinguished works include American States During and After the Revolution, 1775-79 (1924), the magisterial four-volume Ordeal of the Union (1947-71), and the two-volume Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist (1953).

Bibliography

Illinois, by Allan Nevins. New York: Oxford University Press, American branch, 1917.

The Evening post; a century of journalism, by Allan Nevins. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1922.

American social history as recorded by British travellers, compiled and edited by Allan Nevins. New York: H. Holt, 1923.

The emergence, of modern America, 1865-1878, by Allan Nevins. New York: Macmillan, 1927.

Polk; the diary of a president, 1845-1849, covering the Mexican War, the acquisition of Oregon, and the conquest of California and the Southwest, edited by Allan Nevins. London, New York: Longmans, Green, 1929.

Henry White; thirty years of American diplomacy, by Allan Nevins. New York, London: Harper & Brothers, 1930.

American social history as recorded by British travellers. New York: H. Holt, 1931.

Interpretations, 1931-1932, by Walter Lippmann, selected and edited by Allan Nevins. New York: Macmillan, 1932.

Grover Cleveland; a study in courage, by Allan Nevins. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932.

A modern reader; essays on present-day life and culture, selected and edited with the collaboration of Walter Lippmann and Allan Nevins. Boston: New York: D. C. Heath, 1936.

Hamilton Fish; the inner history of the Grant administration, by Allan Nevins, with an introduction by John Bassett Moore. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1936.

Selected writings of Abram S. Hewitt. New York: Columbia University Press, 1937.

The gateway to history, by Allan Nevins. New York, London: D. Appleton-Century, 1938.

The heritage of America; readings in American history, edited by Henry Steele Commager and Allan Nevins. Boston: Little, Brown, 1939.

Frémont, pathmarker of the West, by Allan Nevins. New York, London: D. Appleton-Century, 1939; Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.

The life and writings of Abraham Lincoln; edited, and with a biographical essay by Philip Van Doren Stern; with an introduction, "Lincoln in his writings," by Allan Nevins. New York: Random House, c1940.

John D. Rockefeller: the heroic age of American enterprise, by Allan Nevins. 2 vols. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1941, 1940; Reprinted as Study in power: John D. Rockefeller, industrialist and philanthropist, with a foreword by Robert Bezilla. Collector's ed. Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, c1989.

America in world affairs, by Allan Nevins. London, New York: Oxford University Press, 1941.

America: the story of a free people, by Allan Nevins and Henry Steele Commager. 1st ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942.

A select bibliography of the history of the United States, compiled by Allan Nevins. London: Printed for the Historical Association by Wyman & sons, 1942.

The making of modern Britain, a short history by John Bartlet Brebner and Allan Nevins. New York: W.W. Norton., 1943.

The United States and its place in world affairs, 1918-1943, edited by Allan Nevins and Louis M. Hacker. Boston: D.C. Heath, 1943.

A century of political cartoons; caricature in the United States from 1800 to 1900, by Allan Nevins and Frank Weitenkampf. With 100 reproductions of cartoons. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1944.

Old America in a young world, by Allan Nevins. New York: Newcomen Society of England, American Branch, 1945.

Sail on; the story of the American merchant marine, by Allan Nevins. New York: United States Lines Company, 1946.

Ordeal of the Union. 2 vols. New York, Scribner, 1947; Reprint with a new introduction by James M. McPherson. 1st Collier Books ed. New York: Collier Books, 1992.

America through British eyes. New ed., rev. and enl. New York: Oxford University Press, 1948.

The greater city: New York, 1898-1948, ed. by Allan Nevins and John A. Krout. New York: Columbia University. Press, 1948.

The heritage of America; edited by Henry Steele Commager and Allan Nevins. Rev. and enl. ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1949.

The emergence of Lincoln. 2 vols. New York, Scribner, 1950.

The New Deal and world affairs; a chronicle of international affairs, 1933-1945. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950.

The United States in a chaotic world; a chronicle of international affairs, 1918-1933. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950.

Diary, 1794-1845; American diplomacy and political, social, and intellectual life from Washington to Polk. Edited by Allan Nevins. New York: Scribner, 1951.

The statesmanship of the Civil War. New York: Macmillan, 1953.

Ford. By Allan Nevins with the collaboration of Frank Ernest Hill. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1954-63.

Hamilton Fish; the inner history of the Grant administration. With an introd. by John Bassett Moore. Rev. ed. 2 vols. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co., 1957

Times of trial. Edited by Allan Nevins for American Heritage. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1958.

Essays in American historiography; papers presented in honor of Allan Nevins, edited by Donald Sheehan & Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.

Lincoln: a contemporary portrait, edited by Allan Nevins and Irving Stone. 1st ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962.

The State universities and democracy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1962.

Herbert H. Lehman and his era. New York: Scribner, 1963.

Abram S. Hewitt, with some account of Peter Cooper. New York: Octagon Books, 1967, 1935.

The price of survival. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

James Truslow Adams: historian of the American dream. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1968.

The diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794-1845: American diplomacy, and political, social, and intellectual life, from Washington to Polk. Edited by Allan Nevins. Memoirs of John Quincy Adams. New York, F. Ungar Pub. Co., 1969, 1951.

American press opinion; Washington to Coolidge. A documentary record of editorial leadership and criticism, 1785-1927. 2 vols. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1969.

The American States during and after the Revolution, 1775-1789. New York: A. M. Kelley, 1969.

Ponteach; or, The savages of America; a tragedy. With an introd. and a biography of the author by Allan Nevins. New York: B. Franklin, 1971.

The emergence of modern America, 1865-1878. New York, Macmillan. St. Clair Shores, Mich., Scholarly Press, 1972, 1927.

Allan Nevins on history, compiled and introduced by Ray Allen Billington. New York: Scribner, 1975.

A diary of battle: the personal journals of colonel Charles S. Wainwright, 1861 1865, edited by Allan Nevins; new foreword by Stephen W. Sears. 1st Da Capo Press ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 1998.

The life and writings of Abraham Lincoln, edited, and with a biographical essay by Philip Van Doren Stern ; with an introduction, "Lincoln and his writings," by Allan Nevins. 1999 Modern Library ed. New York: Modern Library, 1999.

The burden and the glory: the hopes and purposes of President Kennedy's second and third years in office as revealed in his public statements and addresses. John F. Kennedy, edited by Allan Nevins; foreword by Lyndon B. Johnson. Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, 1988.