American Dialogue

The Founders and Us

By: Joseph J. Ellis

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

The award-winning author of Founding Brothers and The Quartet now gives us a deeply insightful examination of the relevance of the views of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams to some of the most divisive issues in America today.

The story of history is a ceaseless conversation between past and present, and in American Dialogue, Joseph J. Ellis focuses the conversation on the often-asked question "What would the Founding Fathers think?" He examines four of our most seminal historical figures through the prism of particular topics, using the perspective of the present to shed light on their views and, in turn, to make clear how their now centuries-old ideas illuminate the disturbing impasse of today's political conflicts. He discusses Jefferson and the issue of racism, Adams and the specter of economic inequality, Washington and American imperialism, and Madison and the doctrine of original intent.

Through these juxtapositions - and in his hallmark dramatic and compelling narrative voice - Ellis illuminates the obstacles and pitfalls paralyzing contemporary discussions of these fundamentally important issues.

Cover image: Three Flags, 1958 by Jasper Johns. Encaustic on canvas (three panels) © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY; Print: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA/Bridgeman Images

©2018 Joseph J. Ellis (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Vivid.... Ellis writes with insight and acuity in the present tense, just as he always has in the past tense, and in American Dialogue he draws connections between our history and our present reality with an authority that few other authors can muster." (Jeff Shesol, The New York Times Book Review)

“Joe Ellis knows that history is not simply about the past, it’s about the present having a conversation with the past. In this elegant and fascinating book, he conducts a discourse between our current troubled times and the period when our founders crafted our national creed. The result is an exploration of our values that is both timely and timeless.” (Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo Da Vinci)

"Ellis has taken those recurring questions and those astonishing founders and held them up against our current agonies, seeking to make sense of the present through the prism of the past...thoughtful and thought-provoking...this book may prompt readers to consider that there may be no certainties in a world where philosophy, practicality, and personal interest collide." (The Boston Globe)

"Ellis is not concerned with quiet insights or reassurance. He means to mark out where we have strayed from, and how we have betrayed, America's founding ideals." (The Washington Post)

One of my all-time favorites

This work by Joseph Ellis has helped me better understand the tumult and chaos in today’s “dialogue”, or the lack there of. Ellis provided me perspectives which I lacked. I have been changed by this work. Prior to this work, and the works by Colin Woodard, I was happy to be “independent”, but I have been so frustrated by the polarized camps in America today. While I’m not yet hopeful that we as a nation will be able to return to productive dialogues, Ellis has at least helped me understand how I might be a more effective voice.

Could Not Put it Down

I should have read this book a long time ago. It gave some amazing details I was not privy to before reading this text. I cannot wait to share this book with my students.

Bravo

This book illuminates the present with a insightful look at the past. It was written by a moral man.

thought provoking interpretation

narration was good. Substance of book very interesting. Conclusions thought provoking.
Reccomend to history buffs.

An enlightening review of the ideas of the Framers

I learned a lot about the controversies during the American Revolution and the creation of the Constitution.

A fine work, even with the editorializing

I have read/listened to every one of Mr. Ellis’ works pertaining to the American Revolution and Founding Fathers, and am a big fan of his. After the first “Now” chapter of this book I almost shut it off and requested a refund due to the blatant Progressive bias. His past works around this subject have had very little subjectivity, so it was a bit of a shock.

But, after some reflection I decided to listen to the entire book with an open mind. While there are points I still strongly disagree with, the 2nd Amendment chapter in particular, I did find myself having an internal debate about some of my long-held beliefs. His chapters about the 14th Amendment and American foreign policy were particularly compelling for me.

As usual with his books, the historical aspects of this work are outstanding.

If you lean to the left of the political spectrum you will thoroughly enjoy this book. If you lean right, hopefully you can listen to this book with an open mind and at the very least gain some understanding of views that differ from yours.

wonderful overall.

Ellis's forays into contemporary issues occasionally misfires but otherwise this is excellent. I learned quite a few things about the founders that I didn't know before. Unfortunately, his breadth of knowledge on contemporary issues is occasionally superficial and in at least one case wrong.

Excellent

This will give you a huge insight into what actually happened at the beginning of the United States.

What would the Founders think?

I will admit, my rating for this book is probably a little higher than it deserves. More like 3 and a half stars but... Ellis is kind of a go to historian of the early Republic writing for the layman. This book is enjoyable but much more ideological than his other books, primarily because he is looking at the America of today and how it resonates or not with the America of the Founding Era. Naturally in many regards today comes off a pretty poor second. Unfortunately, I think the only readers of history who will not read this objectively or at least fairly will be the ones who put our lamentable president in office. Ellis will probably lose a lot of the buyers of his books who tune in to Fox News who most need the urgent history lessons.

But to be fair, the topicality of the book is one of the reasons why this book is one of my least favorite of his books. The reason I feel this way is that I think that there is too much reverence for the Founders (we still capitalize the word after all) and too little contextualization of why we got to the point we are. Trump is not an aberration, he is a culmination of the degradation of the political process. We are not too political, we are too little. The Americans who despise politicians elected this man because political office became something vulgar. Our Founders and the politicians of the early Republic were not perfect men. But they cared about our nation, and they cared about ideas. Not sure I can say the same about today's politicians of either party.

Helpful, insightful, courageous

I respect Mr. Ellis as a historian. I appreciate his insights based on volumes of reading and writing. Thank you for putting together your years of research and reflection.