"Running water. Electricity. Antibiotics. Dentistry. Air conditioning. Democracy. The rule of law. Such things are not only remarkably new inventions in human history, they are all alien to humanity's natural habitat. Here is what is natural: poverty, hunger, violence, tribal hatred, and an early death. If the Garden of Eden existed, it was a slum. Only once in the last 250,000 years did humans lift themselves out of their natural environment of poverty....

Explains how the influences of dreamers, zealots, hucksters, and superstitious groups shaped America's tendency toward a rich fantasy life, citing the roles of individuals from P.T. Barnum to Donald Trump in perpetuating conspiracy theories, self-delusion, and magical thinking. "In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, one of our sharpest observers, Kurt Andersen, demonstrates that what's happening in our country today--this strange, post-truth,...

A celebration of the American spirit argues that there is unity and strength beneath the nation's post-September 11th toughness and examines such distinctively American characteristics as an independent spirit and a determination to succeed.

Historical survey of America's self-discovery in the years between the Revolution and the Civil War. Daniel J. Boorstin, one of America's great historians, focuses on American ingenuity and emergent nationalism in this middle book of the Americans trilogy, dealing with a period extending roughly from the Revolution to the Civil War. Like its two companion volumes, The National Experience is a sometimes quirky look at how certain patterns of living...

"At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on--and writing passionately about--what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to...

"For readers of Jill Lepore, Joseph J. Ellis, and Tony Horwitz comes a lively, thought-provoking intellectual history of the golden age of American utopianism--and the bold, revolutionary, and eccentric visions for the future put forward by five of history's most influential utopian movements. In the wake of the Enlightenment and the onset of industrialism, a generation of dreamers took it upon themselves to confront the messiness and injustice of...

"America's armed services are under attack. From college campuses to the floor of the Senate, the Iraq war is portrayed as a quagmire, the Army is described as "broken," and our men and women in uniform are maligned as torturers. Hollywood keeps producing antiwar films, and the media celebrates liberal anti-military activists such as Cindy Sheehan. These critics fail to understand the real nature of the American military. By seeing everything through...

Dotson has been crisscrossing the country for more than forty years--logging more than four million miles--in search of people who have quietly but profoundly changed our lives and our country for the better. Now, in American Story, he presents a road map to the unsung heroes with thoughtful solutions to problems we all face, incredible ideas that work, and blueprints to living our dreams.

Reveals the truth about some of the most pernicious and pervasive myths about America, in a provocative look at such "lies" as corporate America oppresses ordinary citizens, and compassionate government programs provide the best escape from poverty.

"#1 New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro returns with this book uncovering the Left's assault on history, language, and culture. Traditional areas of civic agreement are vanishing. We can't agree on what makes America special. We can't even agree that America is special. We're coming to the point that we can't even agree what the word America itself means. "Disintegrationists" say we're stronger together, but their assault on America's history,...