Synopses & Reviews
"I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man," wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1800, sounding a note that has echoed throughout American history. In this bracing reexamination, Daniel Lazare traces the progress of America's unwavering war on its cities and looks at the profound consequences.
From Jefferson through Henry Ford and Franklin Roosevelt to the present, we have labored to wither our cities, simultaneously fouling our air and our landscape, depleting our energy resources to feed our automobiles and neglecting any form of community other than hollow, homogenous suburbs. And yet the average American has a smaller share of the country's wealth than the average European and less opportunity to improve his or her lot.
Provocative and enlightening, America's Undeclared War exposes a prejudice both fundamental and destructive to American culture. With a mordant wit and a refreshing clarity, Lazare offers a vision that can re-invigorate us, our communities, and our future.
Review
PRAISE FOR THE FROZEN REPUBLIC"Lazare's knowledge of American history is as persuasive as his wit. Like most worthwhile books, The Frozen Republic obliges the reviewer to choose among its virtues."-THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"One needn't agree with Lazare's centralizing preferences to be impressed by his flowing prose and well-deployed facts, which speak broadly to we the people, not just they the lawyers."-BOOKLIST
About the Author
Daniel Lazare is the author of the iconoclastic study of the U.S. Constitution, The Frozen Republic, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. He has written about race, drugs, and urban policy for a wide variety of publications, including Harper's, The American Prospect, and Le Monde Diplomatique. He lives in Manhattan.