The American Revelation: Ten Ideals That Shaped Our Country from the Puritans to the Cold War

Given the polarization of contemporary America, says historian and former National Book Foundation executive director Baldwin, "we need to turn to galvanizing beliefs that will provide a unifying focus...." To this end, Baldwin ably investigates 10 key precepts of what might be called "fundamental Americanism," while at the same time highlighting iconic Americans who helped to define and articulate those precepts. Here we have biographical sketches of early Massachusetts governor John Winthrop, who offered the idea of a "city on a hill"; Thomas Paine's Common Sense; Pierre Du Simitière's notion of "E pluribus unum"; Emerson's vision of self-reliance; John L. O'Sullivan's concept of manifest destiny and, of more recent vintage, the enlightened generosity embodied in the post-WWII Marshall Plan. But in whittling these down to the arbitrary number of 10, Baldwin necessarily leaves out a great deal. Any collection such as this desperately needs Abraham Lincoln's soaring poetry regarding government "of the people, by the people, for the people," and a nod to the Declaration of Independence and JFK's inaugural speech, among other key rhetorical pillars of the American experiment. Agent, Trident Media Group. (June)