The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation - Hardcover

Prothero, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062123432 ISBN 13: 9780062123435

Publisher: Harperone, 2012

Synopsis

The New York Times best-selling author of Religious Literacy identifies the most crucial texts written by Americans and published in America, which have profoundly shaped our national identity, including the speeches of Lincoln, Kennedy and Reagan, and the novels of Melville, Salinger and Rand. 60,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

"There are certain speeches, songs, books, letters, laws, and axioms that Americans honor enough to argue about, says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. Like the Declaration of Independence, this almost consecrated canon inspires endless commentary about what it means to be American-and what 'America' means."--Religion News Service

""In The American Bible", Prothero has turned his considerable talents to assembling a version of the American canon. The author's prose is, as usual, spritely, informed and incisive."--Washington Post

""The American Bible" is a provocative, brilliantly realized illumination of American values by means of excerpted historical documents."--Colloquy, Harvard University

""In The American Bible," Prothero has turned his considerable talents to assembling a version of the American canon. The author's prose is, as usual, spritely, informed and incisive."--Washington Post

In these pages Stephen Prothero has brilliantly captured the American spirit-a spirit that has always seen us through hours of division and disagreement. With Prothero s expert analysis, these texts should spark civil conversation, informed debate, and intelligent discussion. ---Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "American Lion.""

There are certain speeches, songs, books, letters, laws, and axioms that Americans honor enough to argue about, says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. Like the Declaration of Independence, this almost consecrated canon inspires endless commentary about what it means to be American-and what America means. --Religion News Service"

Required for putting in one place so many historic pieces that are more opined over than actually read. Awesome scholarship to an admirable purpose. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

"The American Bible" is a provocative, brilliantly realized illumination of American values by means of excerpted historical documents. --Colloquy, Harvard University"

"In The American Bible," Prothero has turned his considerable talents to assembling a version of the American canon. The author s prose is, as usual, spritely, informed and incisive. --Washington Post"

"In these pages Stephen Prothero has brilliantly captured the American spirit-a spirit that has always seen us through hours of division and disagreement. With Prothero's expert analysis, these texts should spark civil conversation, informed debate, and intelligent discussion."---Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion.

From the Back Cover:

Since Thomas Jefferson first recorded those self-evident truths in the Declaration of Independence, America has been a nation that has unfolded as much on the page and the podium as on battlefields or in statehouses. Here Stephen Prothero reveals which texts continue to generate controversy and drive debate. He then puts these voices into conversation, tracing how prominent leaders and thinkers of one generation have commented upon the core texts of another, and invites readers to join in.

Few can question that the Constitution is part of our shared cultural lexicon, that the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision still impacts lives, or that "The Star-Spangled Banner" informs our national identity. But Prothero also considers lesser known texts that have sparked our war of words, including Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In The American Bible Christopher Hitchens weighs in on Huck Finn, and Sarah Palin on Martin Luther King Jr. From the speeches of Presidents Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan to the novels of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Ayn Rand—Prothero takes the reader into the heart of America's culture wars. These "scriptures" provide the words that continue to unite, divide, and define Americans today.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harperone
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0062123432
• ISBN 13: 9780062123435
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 533