Gems of American History - by Walter A McDougall (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The American story is one of great physical, intellectual, and spiritual adventure. Gems of American History explores how this extraordinary republic came to be--and what is required to preserve its legacy of liberty.

In this collection of twelve essays, the renowned historian Walter McDougall examines some of the most pivotal events and figures of the American saga to date. He revisits the "Machiavellian moment" that ignited the awakening of republican thought across the Atlantic. He reflects on the forg-ing of America's civic identity from its earliest seeds in the colonial era. His profiles of William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, and the philanthropist and tycoon Stephen Girard reveal the profound role Philadelphia played in shaping the nation. He recounts the story of the Wright brothers' romance with flight and how it captures America's indefatigable spirit.

McDougall also warns that, for more than a century, leaders following in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson have steered the United States down a path of foreign policy ruin that undermines our national interests and threatens our national character.

Leavened with a lifelong scholar's wisdom and insight, Gems of American History assem-bles the wide-ranging sources of American principles and traditions, many of which have been lost to ideological amnesia, in a way that helps explain who we are and where we are going.

Review Quotes

In Gems of American History, Walter McDougall takes aim at many of our stale orthodoxies not because he is a contrarian by nature but because his knowledge is so great and his patience with lazy thinking so thin. He never disappoints.

--Tom Woods, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the 2019 Hayek Lifetime Achievement Award

Gems of American History combines a grand narrative arc with beautiful storytelling presented as short lectures. Walter McDougall tells the story of the United States from her founding in eminently readable form, and not just for students of history but students in general--a worthy follow-up to the greats such as William Morfill, Edward Creasy, and A. J. P. Taylor.

--Sumantra Maitra, director of research at the American Ideas Institute and elected associate fellow at the Royal Historical Society

Walter McDougall is no court historian. A Vietnam veteran, Professor McDougall is a patriotic critic of American foreign policy--and that's no oxymoron because to love your country is to understand it squarely and try to improve it. He does this by way of his expertise in the historian's craft and insightful assessments, and we are better for his efforts. Professor McDougall is a gem of a historian, and this collection is a precious gift.

--William Ruger, president of the American Institute for Economic Research

About the Author

WALTER A. McDOUGALL is a professor of history and the Alloy-Ansin Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a senior fellow at Philadelphia's Foreign Policy Research Institute, where he edited Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs. He is a prolific author whose works include Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History 1585-1828, Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era 1829-1877, and most recently The Tragedy of U.S. Foreign Policy: How American Civil Religion Betrayed the National Interest. His book ...the Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for History.