Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A timely look at tumultuous periods in American history when Presidents and ordinary citizens came together to defeat the forces of fear and hate--from the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. In The Soul of America, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment of crisis in American politics by looking back at critical times in history when hope overcame hatred. Our current climate of partisan division is not new, and by exploring past dark moments in American history Meacham shows us how our "better angels" have again and again won the day. Painting revealing portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and U.S. Grant, he brings the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Southern "Lost Cause" back to vivid life, as well as Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive movement; Woodrow Wilson and the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the KKK in the 1920's; FDR and the "America First" movement of the 1930's; Truman, Eisenhower, and the reign of Joe McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's fight for civil rights.
Synopsis
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear--a struggle that continues even now.
While the American story has not always--or even often--been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, "The good news is that we have come through such darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail.
Praise for The Soul of America
"Meacham has become one of America's most earnest and thoughtful biographers and historians. . . . Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia. Finally, Meacham provides advice to find our better angels--enter the arena, resist tribalism, respect facts and deploy reason, find a critical balance and keep history in mind. He's provided a great way to do it."--USA Today
"This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book."--Walter Isaacson
Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. ONE OF OPRAH'S "BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH" - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - The Christian Science Monitor - Southern Living Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in
The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear--a struggle that continues even now.
While the American story has not always--or even often--been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, "The good news is that we have come through such darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail.
Praise for The Soul of America
"Brilliant, fascinating, timely . . . With compelling narratives of past eras of strife and disenchantment, Meacham offers wisdom for our own time."--Walter Isaacson
"Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meacham's declaration of his faith in America."--Newsday
"Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia."--USA Today