The Story of American Freedom

Author: Eric Foner Series: Norton Paperback

A stirring history of America focused on its animating impulse: freedom.

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Summary

A stirring history of America focused on its animating impulse: freedom.

Description

From the Revolution to our own time, freedom has been America's strongest cultural bond and its most perilous fault line, a birthright for some Americans and a cruel mockery for others. Eric Foner takes freedom not as a timeless truth but as a value whose meaning and scope have been contested throughout American history. His sweeping narrative shows freedom to have been shaped not only in congressional debates and political treatises but also on plantations and picket lines, in parlors and bedrooms, by our acknowledged leaders and by former slaves, union organizers, freedom riders, and women's rights activists.

Critic Reviews

“"Succinct, information-packed, wonderfully readable.... An excellent choice for serious readers."”

"Brilliant, important.... [A] superb book." -- Fred Anderson - Los Angeles Times Book Review
-- Pauline Maier - New York Times Book Review
"Foner tackles the whole drama of American history. He succeeds, with far-reaching intelligence and a genial respect for his reader." -- Mark Greif - Boston Sunday Globe
"A masterful book... that covers two centuries of courage, violence, achievement, and unfulfilled dreams in the quest for liberty." -- Herbert Mitgang - Newsday
"A thought-provoking look at the historical uses of freedom in the United States." -- Seattle Times
"Powerful.... Eric Foner has held up a mirror and asked us as a people to take a good, hard look at ourselves. It is incumbent on us not to turn away." -- Raleigh News & Observer

About the Author

Eric Foner's indelible works include the landmark history, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution; a bestselling study of Lincoln and slavery, The Fiery Trial, winner of the Pulitzer, Bancroft, and Lincoln Prizes; and an influential history of the Reconstruction amendments, The Second Founding. The DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University, Foner continues to write frequently for The Nation and other publications.