American Struggle

“A fascinating, even moving, deep dive into the deepest of subjects. As Jeffery Marlow shows us, the ocean floor isn’t a bleak wasteland—it’s the largest part of our planet, teeming with life and with possibilities for a radically reimagined future. Marlow’s book shines a brilliant light on Earth’s crucial frontier.”—Jason Roberts, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Every Living Thing and A Sense of the World

“Jon Meacham has done it again. This collection of pivotal American documents is all about the contrasts that flow from American pluralism over time, but it is even more about poignancies and conflicts which rise over and over in our history. Here are Hamilton and Jefferson, Calhoun and David Walker; Andrew Jackson and the Seneca Falls Declaration; Frederick Douglass and Andrew Johnson. FDR timelessly takes on “fear” and Huey Long “rich people.” Democracy marches in many tongues here but so does authoritarianism, American-style. If there is a soul in American history, it emerges—indeed, explodes—from these pages.”—David W. Blight, Yale University, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

“Jon Meacham is our era’s preeminent historian of America’s values. In this anthology of brilliant essays and important documents, he weaves a narrative of how our democracy has progressed, in fits and starts, in pursuit of a more perfect union. It serves as a guide for the struggle we still face to preserve our freedoms. This is the one book everyone should read to celebrate our 250th birthday.”—Walter Isaacson, Professor of History, Tulane University, and New York Times bestselling author of Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, and Einstein

“With American Struggle, Jon Meacham gives us exactly what we need as we approach the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. The documents presented remind us, in this very difficult time, of the country’s sometimes fraught journey toward creating a more perfect union. This volume is inspiring, just at the moment and in the way we need it most.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family