This monograph is a cultural history of Bulgaria’s early fascination with American institutions and ideals. It traces the attempts of a tiny Bulgarian elite under Turkish rule to define themselves and recreate a Bulgarian national state with the examples of the American (and French) Revolutions as well as the caesaro-papism of Tsarist Russia as possible models. Bulgarians of the National Revival period argued passionately about the aims of the American Republic, its excesses (slavery, unfettered land acquisition, destruction of autochonous peoples) and glories (universal franchise, the common school, respect for the individual). The study also discusses the great scientific interest in America’s geography, mineral wealth and opportunity. Finally Professor Raichevsky posits the importance of the American experience with the creation of the new Bulgarian state(1879)and its political institutions.