American Struggle
Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
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American Struggle
Narrated by:
Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham, Steve Hendrickson, Mike Chamberlain, Robert Petkoff, January LaVoy, Kimberly Farr, Robert Fass, Jim Seybert, Aaron Goodson, JD Jackson, Tavia Gilbert, Keith Szarabajka, Full Cast
Pre-order Now for £16.99
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By:
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Jon Meacham
About this listen
“Jon Meacham has done it again. If there is a soul in American history, it emerges—indeed, explodes—from these pages.”—David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
In a polarized era, history can become a subject of political contention. Many see America as perfect; many others argue that the national experiment is fundamentally flawed. The truth, Meacham shows, likely lies between these extremes. America has had shining hours, and also dark ones.
In American Struggle, Jon Meacham illuminates the nation’s complicated past. This rich and diverse collection covers a wide spectrum of history, from 1619 to the twenty-first century, with primary-source documents that take us back to critical moments in which Americans fought over the meaning and the direction of the national experiment. From the founders to Lincoln to Obama, from Andrew Jackson to Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan, from Seneca Falls to the March on Washington, this chorus—sometimes discordant and always fascinating—tells the story of the country and of its people. As clashes over liberty and slavery, inclusion and exclusion, play out, these voices, brilliantly framed by Meacham’s singular commentary, remind us that contentious citizenship and fair-minded observations are essential to bringing about the more perfect union envisioned in the Preamble to the Constitution, which Frederick Douglass called a “glorious liberty document.”
Conflict is nothing new in our democracy; rather, as Meacham and these texts show, tensions are inherent, stubborn, and perennial. And American Struggle teaches us anew that to know what has come before, to watch as long-running disputes rise and fall, is to be armed against despair.
Critic reviews
“A fascinating, even moving, deep dive into the deepest of subjects. As Jeffery Marlow shows us, the ocean floor isn’t a bleak wasteland—it’s the largest part of our planet, teeming with life and with possibilities for a radically reimagined future. Marlow’s book shines a brilliant light on Earth’s crucial frontier.”—Jason Roberts, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Every Living Thing and A Sense of the World
“Jon Meacham has done it again. This collection of pivotal American documents is all about the contrasts that flow from American pluralism over time, but it is even more about poignancies and conflicts which rise over and over in our history. Here are Hamilton and Jefferson, Calhoun and David Walker; Andrew Jackson and the Seneca Falls Declaration; Frederick Douglass and Andrew Johnson. FDR timelessly takes on "fear" and Huey Long "rich people." Democracy marches in many tongues here but so does authoritarianism, American-style. If there is a soul in American history, it emerges—indeed, explodes—from these pages.”—David W. Blight, Yale University, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
“Jon Meacham is our era’s preeminent historian of America’s values. In this anthology of brilliant essays and important documents, he weaves a narrative of how our democracy has progressed, in fits and starts, in pursuit of a more perfect union. It serves as a guide for the struggle we still face to preserve our freedoms. This is the one book everyone should read to celebrate our 250th birthday.”—Walter Isaacson, Professor of History, Tulane University, and New York Times bestselling author of Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, and Einstein
“With American Struggle, Jon Meacham gives us exactly what we need as we approach the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. The documents presented remind us, in this very difficult time, of the country’s sometimes fraught journey toward creating a more perfect union. This volume is inspiring, just at the moment and in the way we need it most.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
“Jon Meacham has done it again. This collection of pivotal American documents is all about the contrasts that flow from American pluralism over time, but it is even more about poignancies and conflicts which rise over and over in our history. Here are Hamilton and Jefferson, Calhoun and David Walker; Andrew Jackson and the Seneca Falls Declaration; Frederick Douglass and Andrew Johnson. FDR timelessly takes on "fear" and Huey Long "rich people." Democracy marches in many tongues here but so does authoritarianism, American-style. If there is a soul in American history, it emerges—indeed, explodes—from these pages.”—David W. Blight, Yale University, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
“Jon Meacham is our era’s preeminent historian of America’s values. In this anthology of brilliant essays and important documents, he weaves a narrative of how our democracy has progressed, in fits and starts, in pursuit of a more perfect union. It serves as a guide for the struggle we still face to preserve our freedoms. This is the one book everyone should read to celebrate our 250th birthday.”—Walter Isaacson, Professor of History, Tulane University, and New York Times bestselling author of Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, and Einstein
“With American Struggle, Jon Meacham gives us exactly what we need as we approach the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. The documents presented remind us, in this very difficult time, of the country’s sometimes fraught journey toward creating a more perfect union. This volume is inspiring, just at the moment and in the way we need it most.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
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