The Soul of America : : the Battle for our Better Angels

Locations
Call Number: 973 Me, Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Meacham, Jon
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	973 Me	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	973 Me	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	973 Me	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Meacham, Jon	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Meacham, Jon	4-week checkout	Reshelving
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / United States / General / Meacham, Jon	4-week checkout	On Shelf

To Hope Rather than to Fear -- The Confidence of the Whole People: Visions of the Presidency, the Ideas of Progress and Prosperity, and 'We, the People' -- The Long Shadow of Appomattox: The Lost Cause, the Ku Klux Klan, and construction -- With Soul of Flame and Temper of Steel -- A Great and New Thing in the World: The Triumph of Women's Suffrage, the Red Scare, and a New Klan -- The Crisis of the Old Order: The Great Depression, Huey Long, the New Deal, and America First -- Have You No Sense of Decency?: 'Making Everyone Middle Class," the GI Bill, McCarthyism, and Modern Media -- What the Hell's the Presidency For?: 'Segregation Forever,' King's Crusade, and LBJ in the Crucible -- The First Duty of an American Citizen.
"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 presidents including, besides Lincoln, 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 Klu 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 to finish the fight against Jim Crow. In each of these dramatic, crucial turning points, the battle to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear, was joined, even as it is today. While the American story has not always been heroic, and the outcome of our battles never certain, in this inspiring book Meacham reassures us,"the good news is that we have come through darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail. Advance praise for The Soul of America "This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book. Jon Meacham explores the extremism and racism that have infected our politics, and he draws enlightening lessons from the knowledge that we've faced such trials before."--Walter Isaacson "Jon Meacham has done it again, this time with a historically rich and gracefully written account of America's long struggle with division in our immigrant nation and the heroic efforts to heal the wounds. It should be in every home and on every student's desk."--Tom Brokaw"-- Provided by publisher.
"The current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America, Meacham shows us how what Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and others, 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 Klu 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 Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade to finish the fight against Jim Crow. In each of these dramatic, crucial turning points, the battle to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear, was joined, even as it is today. While the American story has not always or even often been heroic, and the outcome of that battle has never been certain, in this inspiring book, Meacham writes, "The good news is that we have come through darkness before," as time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Better angels submitted by rmhawkins on August 28, 2020, 10:14am Remarkable insights into the history of our country

Excellent, timely read submitted by ken on September 13, 2020, 10:55am This political history is written, in part, to put the current American political situation in context. The present leadership’s rise (and eventual fall, if history rhymes or repeats itself) comes out of a long cycle of reactionary movements from the Revolution through Reconstruction, the Southern “Lost Cause”, anti-immigration and isolationism of the 1910s and 1920s, McCarthyism and the anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic movements of the 50s and 60s, to say nothing of the Civil Rights movement. It’s very well written and very readable. And points toward America finding a new path forward in its journey to a more perfect union.

Historical context submitted by m steve on June 15, 2021, 12:30pm This is a well written book designed, I think, to provide some historical context for some of the problems faced by this country recently. Divisions have existed before and have been overcome.