The Soul of America

The Battle for Our Better Angels

De: Jon Meacham

Narrado por: Fred Sanders, Jon Meacham

Number-one New York Times best seller

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.

Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, the Christian Science Monitor, and Southern Living.

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 Lincoln and other presidents, including 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 Ku 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 against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear - a struggle that continues even now.

While the American story has not always - or even often - been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, "The good news is that we have come through such darkness before" - as, time and again, Lincoln’s better angels have found a way to prevail.

Praise for The Soul of America:

“Brilliant, fascinating, timely... With compelling narratives of past eras of strife and disenchantment, Meacham offers wisdom for our own time.” (Walter Isaacson)

“Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meacham’s declaration of his faith in America.” (Newsday)

“Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia.” (USA Today)

©2018 Jon Meacham (P)2018 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book." (Walter Isaacson)

"Rather than curse the darkness, Jon Meacham, with his usual eloquence and surpassing knowledge of our history, has offered us all the sublime and calming reassurance that as threatening as so much of the present moment seems, Americans have weathered such storms before and come out on the other side with fresh and progressive horizons. This is a beautifully expressed and convincing prayer to summon our own 'better angels' to meet the obvious challenges of today." (Ken Burns)

"Meacham has become one of America's most earnest and thoughtful biographers and historians.... Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia. Finally, Meacham provides advice to find our better angels - enter the arena, resist tribalism, respect facts and deploy reason, find a critical balance and keep history in mind. He’s provided a great way to do it." (USA Today)

A Hopeful Reminder Of Better Angels

"One of the points for reflecting on the past, is to prepare us for action in the present." ~Jon Meacham

Gratitude: Jon Meacham's book "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels" is a reasoned, heartfelt history lesson. A fireside chat. It gives me hope and comfort that better angels are always waiting in the wings.

Know your history.

Great book that demonstrate the responsible way to be a great citizen. This book demonstrates how Trump was elected. Now we must standup and prevent him from destroying our freedoms.

A Ray of Hope

Jon Meacham has a way of taking us on a guided tour of our present through a visit to our country's history. Although we may find a sense of fear for the continuation of our democracy in our present, Meacham shows us that the very concern for the continuation of that democracy has been ingrained in this experiment we call the United States. This concern is always a call to right the ship of state, not abandon it to rocks and reefs of a turbulent political sea. Tribalism and the isolation of political views do not advance our narrative. There is hope and that hope still burns brightly within the soul of America.

Very Well done

Meacham's book came at the right time for me. With the present disaster in the White House and the pathetic Congress it gave hope that we has weathered dark times in our past. We have to stop taking democracy for granted and fight like demons to preserve it. Lets hope we don't end up like Hungry, Poland or Turkey.

Outstanding history book about civil rights and the struggles

This should be required reading of all high school students. This was great to get so many insights from so many different books presented in a wonderful way.

We've been here before, but we'll snap back !?

Both disturbing & somewhat encouraging, but the author puts a lot of faith in the country's recovery from negative developments in the 1st 2/3 of the 20th century. The lack of attention to the last 30 years makes one wonder why he didn't go any further. That lack of attention to more current developments makes it difficult to accept the author's optimism. The lesson learned is the need for resistance & to keep hope alive.

Must Read!

We must keep & save our democracy at all cost. We must always keep “evil” at bay & fight for our democratic society. Remember what history has taught us so that we may strive for a better future, a better America.
Stand on the side of good & may God save our soul.

Americas Sole

I loved this book . There were so many things I did not know about each of these Presidents before this book
Thank you for enlightening me.

Great review of our shared history

This book should be required reading in all high schools and for members of government who could use a refresher course. Well done indeed on all levels. Jon merchant is always worth reading or listening to. Thanks

A must-read for every American

Appalling in an encouraging way, if such a thing can be said. Your perspective on politics itself will change for the better as you read this.