William Appleman Williams is perhaps the best known practitioner of what has been identified as a "New Left" approach to American history. His revisionist interpretation of the American past, which emphasizes the importance of what he has called "open door imperialism," has had considerable influence, especially among younger scholars. His career has been controversial, as was evident in the struggle surrounding his election to the presidency of the Organization of American Historians for 1981-1982.

Williams was born and grew up in rural Atlantic, lowa. He has observed that among the circumstances helping to shape his later values were "an extended family ..., working on a farm in the summers, suffering [through] a depression in its psychological as well as economic aspects, and being raised by people who had community values at the very center of their lives." Both his grandmothers "were liberated women, painters and singers," as was his...