During the nineteenth century, nearly ten thousand Americans travelled to Germany to study in universities renowned for their research and teaching. By the mid-twentieth century, American institutions led the world. How did America become the centre of higher education excellence? And what does that story reveal about who will lead in the twenty-first century? 'Allies and Rivals' is a history of the ascent of American higher education told through the lens of German-American exchange. In a series of compelling portraits of such leaders as Wilhelm von Humboldt, Martha Carey Thomas, and W.E.B. Du Bois, Emily J. Levine shows how academic innovators on both sides of the Atlantic competed and collaborated to shape the research university.

Previously issued in print: 2021.