Worldwide, nationalism is being invoked as an excuse to disdain minorities or to support despots. As a result, nationalism has become to many a dirty word. Offering a truer and more inspiring story of American nationalism as it has evolved over 400 years, the author of What Would the Founders Do? examines America's history through 13 documents that made the United States a new country in a new world, including the Constitution, the Seneca Falls Declaration, FDR's "Arsenal of Democracy" fireside chat, and Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech. Americans have always sought liberty and fought for it, and as Richard Brookhiser argues here, every victory has been the fulfillment of old hopes and promises.

"With his characteristic combination of elegance and shrewdness, Richard Brookhiser gives us another insightful account of what makes us the nation we are…. Intellectual history at its riveting best."—H.W. Brands