America, Empire of Liberty: A New History - Couverture souple

Reynolds, DR David

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0141033673 ISBN 13 : 9780141033679

Editeur : Penguin, 2010

Synopsis

It was Thomas Jefferson who envisioned the United States as a great 'empire of liberty.' In the first new one-volume history in two decades, David Reynolds takes Jefferson's phrase as a key to the saga of America - helping unlock both its grandeur and its paradoxes. He examines how the anti-empire of 1776 became the greatest superpower the world has seen, how the country that offered liberty and opportunity on a scale unmatched in Europe nevertheless founded its prosperity on the labour of black slaves and the dispossession of the Native Americans. He explains how these tensions between empire and liberty have often been resolved by faith - both the evangelical Protestantism that has energized U.S. politics since the foundation of the nation and the larger faith in American righteousness that has impelled the country's expansion. Reynolds' account is driven by a compelling argument which illuminates our contemporary world.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

Publishers Weekly
“In an animated overview up to the present time, Cambridge historian Reynolds (In Command of History) captures the sprawling chronicle of a nation forged from the fires of revolution, populated by immigrants and constantly evolving politically and culturally... Most readers will find Reynolds’s epic overview provocative and enjoyable.”

American History Magazine
“Dazzlingly sweeping yet stippled with detail, this one-volume narrative runs from 1776 to Obama’s election, serving up fresh insights along the way.”

Kirkus
“Concise and still-inclusive...teeming...an evenhanded distillation of America's story from a singular outside observer.”

The National Interest
“Let us not mince words...this is the best one-volume history of the United States ever written...At least on the face of it, no single mind can master this mountain of material, avoid the almost-inevitable factual blunders, negotiate the long-standing scholarly controversies, and control the narrative in clear and at-times-lyrical prose. But that is precisely what Reynolds has done...[A] remarkable tour of the American past.”

Biographie de l'auteur :

David Reynolds, FBA, is Professor of International History at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Christ's College. He is the author or editor of ten books on aspects of twentieth-century history, including One World Divisible: A Global History since 1945 (2000) and In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War (2004) which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize. Both of these books are available as Penguin paperbacks. His most recent book, Summits, was also a six-part BBC TV series which he wrote and presented.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Penguin
• Date d'édition: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0141033673
• ISBN 13: 9780141033679
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 704