Marc Egnal

Marc Egnal (born December 11, 1943) is an American historian whose work addresses topics including the American Revolution, the Civil War, economic history, novels and art, and the Canadian economy.^[1][2]

Life

Egnal grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Central High School. After undergraduate and graduate studies, he moved to Toronto, Canada, in 1970 to take a position at York University. He married Judith Humphrey, founder of an executive communications firm.^[3]

Career

Egnal attended Swarthmore College, receiving a B.A. in 1965. He then went to the University of Wisconsin on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to study the Revolutionary era with Merrill Jensen. As part of this program, he spent a year (1968–1969) at the University of London on a Fulbright Fellowship. He received his M.A. from Wisconsin in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1974.^[4][5] He taught at York University and is now Professor Emeritus.^[6]

He is the author of several books. His first was A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution (Cornell University Press, 1988).^[7] This was followed by Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth (Oxford University Press, 1996),^[8] and New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada (Oxford University Press, 1998).^[9]

His next major work was The Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War (Hill and Wang, 2009). According to the publisher, the book argues that "economic change, more than any other factor, explains the origins of the Civil War." ^[10] Egnal has also written related essays for The New York Times.^[11][12]

In 2024 he published A Mirror for History: How Novels and Art Reflect the Evolution of Middle-Class America (University of Tennessee Press), which examines American society from 1750 to 2020. According to the publisher, the book argues that "the arc of middle-class culture reflects the evolution of the American economy from the near-subsistence agriculture of the 1750s to the extraordinarily unequal society of the twenty-first century." It combines analysis of novels, art, and social data to explore shifts in values, social norms, and economic structures over time.^[13]

In 2025 Egnal published Challenging the Myths of US History: Seven Short Essays on the Past & Present (University of California Press), covering topics including the American Revolution, Civil War, Vietnam, violence, the women’s movement, and Donald Trump. According to the publisher, the book argues that "at the heart of the American story are the demands of affluent citizens for economic growth and territorial expansion." ^[14]

In retirement, Egnal has also published fiction. His short stories include Murder on the Playground (2025),^[15] Death in the Oranges (2024),^[16] and Golden Gate (2024).^[17]

Works

• A Mighty Empire: The Origins of the American Revolution. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1988. Reissued with a new preface, 2010.
• Divergent Paths: How Culture and Institutions Have Shaped North American Growth. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• The Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War. New York: Hill and Wang, 2009.
• A Mirror for History: How Novels and Art Reflect the Evolution of Middle-Class America. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2024.
• Challenging the Myths of US History: Seven Short Essays on the Past & Present. Oakland: University of California Press, 2025.