The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States

“Exceptional... a remarkable study of the key chapter of American history and its ongoing influence on American character.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Founding Era reflects on the birth of American nationhood and explains why the American Revolution remains so essential to our identity and culture.

For Gordon S. Wood, the American Revolution is the most important event in our history, bar none. Since American identity is so fluid and complex, we have had to continually return to our nation’s founding to understand who we are.

In a series of illuminating essays, he explores the ideological origins of the Revolution—from Ancient Rome to the European Enlightenment—and the founders’ attempts to forge a new democracy. He reflects on the origins of American exceptionalism, the radicalism and failed hopes of the founding generation, and the “terrifying gap” between us and the men who created the democratic state we now take for granted.

Gracefully written and filled with insight, The Idea of America is a profoundly revealing look at the event that forged the United States and its enduring power to define us.