Praise for Nations Apart:
“Provocative. . . . [Woodard] raises an alarm, with clarion sharpness, about an authoritarian specter. . . . His book deserves attention.”
—Wall Street Journal
“A powerful paradigm for understanding the defining hot button issues of contemporary America and the action we can take to bridge our cultural divisions and save the republic.”
—The Next Big Idea Club
“A world-class intellectual. . . . [Colin Woodard’s] research can help Americans rediscover their common identity in spite of all the attempts to divide them.”
—Garry Kasparov
“A lucid exercise in political geography with tremendous—and disturbing—explanatory power.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An in-depth, nuanced look at the regional differences that influence values and belief systems within large geographical swaths of the U.S. . . . [Woodard’s] in-depth but accessible arguments bring in elements of history, religion, philosophy, economics, international comparisons, and predictions for the future, all fully supported by data. . . . Considerable food for thought.”
—Booklist (STARRED review)
“Where American Nations was a map of our historical DNA, Nations Apart promises to be a diagnosis of our present — and maybe a warning for the future.”
—Richard Stride, The Chronicle
“[Nations Apart] does an admirable job of providing empirical evidence on how the different regions of the country have developed, how they present today, and how they can be better united. . . . The book serves as a comprehensive history lesson, opening up avenues for further study and connecting with those who hail from any of the regions discussed.”
—Library Journal
Praise for Union:
Named a Book of the Year by the Christian Science Monitor
“In Woodard’s hands, [history] leaps to life. He shows just how powerful a form popular nonfiction can be in the hands of a disciplined writer who won’t tolerate generality or abstraction. . . . The writing is relentlessly accessible. . . . This is that rare history that tells what influential thinkers failed to think, what famous writers left unwritten.”
—Jill Leovy, The American Scholar
Praise for American Character:
Chautauqua Book Prize finalist • Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Non-fiction
“[Woodard] is a terrific writer, and his range is impressive.”
—David Oshinsky, Washington Post
Praise for American Nations:
A Wall Street Journal bestseller • A New Republic Best Book of the Year • The Globalist Top Books of the Year • Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Non-fiction
“Fascinating . . . Engrossing . . . a smart read that feels particularly timely now, when so many would claim a mythically unified ‘founding Fathers’ as their political ancestors.”
—The Boston Globe