Historian Daniel J. Boorstin poses in May 1974 in Los Angeles with the book that won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Boorstin, who wrote more than 20 history books over his long career, died Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004, of pneumonia at Washington's Sibley Hospital. He was 89. Boorstin was appointed librarian of Congress in 1974 by President Ford and spent 12 years as director of the world's largest library. He won the Pulitzer for history for `The Americans: The Democratic Experience. The book was the third in his ``The Americans'' trilogy and followed The Colonial Experience and The National Experience. All sought to analyze the distinctive character of American institutions and culture. He also tackled world history with The Discoverers, which looked at the human search for knowledge.