Within three decades of its refounding in Ann Arbor in 1837, the University of Michigan became the largest and arguably most progressive university in the United States. By century's end, its influence in higher education stretched from coast to coast- from Cornell to Stanford- and touched professional, graduate, and undergraduate education. At the end of the twentieth century, the University of Michigan continues to rank among the nation's leading universities, setting the standard for higher education in the twenty-first century.

Howard Peckham's history of the University of Michigan was published in 1967 to help celebrate the University's 150th anniversary. This new edition by Margaret and Nicholas Steneck continues Peckham's broad coverage of the University of Michigan through its 175th anniversary, covering the administrations of Robben Fleming, Harold Shapiro, and the beginning of the presidency of James Duderstadt.

The Stenecks have also reformatted and edited the earlier Peckham chapters to turn The Making of the University of Michigan into an accessible and engaging book to read or to browse, covering all aspects of campus life, from sports and students to the coming and going of faculty, administrators, and regents, with over seventy-five photos carefully integrated into the text.