American schism How the two Enlightenments hold the secret to healing our nation

A history book offers a reevaluation of the polarization in United States society and politics. "Hunkered down at home" during 2020's Covid-19 quarantines, Radwell grappled with reconciling the harsh realities of the pandemic and politics in the Donald Trump era with his lifelong idealized version of America as a beacon of liberty and "a land of opportunity." As he fell into "a profound state of disillusionment," the author dusted off history books from his college days at Columbia and Harvard and concluded there "really are two different Americas" and that the nation has been divided for centuries. Indeed, Radwell's analysis begins in 18th-century Europe, where he finds Enlightenment thinkers divided between radicals, who sought a complete overhaul of the "rigid societal structure" of the continent's aristocratic system, and moderates, who supported certain intellectual and societal reforms while maintaining the hierarchies. As the Enlightenment spread to America's Founding Fathers during the Revolutionary War era, so too did its two divisions, which the book expertly tracks from constitutional debates in the 1780s through the civil rights movement and the conservative resurgence of the 20th century. The volume's final section centers on solutions to "healing the American schism" that seriously call for a return to Enlightenment ideals, suggesting that "reasoned analysis and sound historical perspective" can overcome the "irrational political discourse that is raging at present." Though Trump and his supporters are not spared the author's ire, those on the left are also admonished for participating "in the mayhem that is today's social media." Though none of the history covered in the work will be particularly revelatory to scholars, Radwell--the former president of e-Scholastic children's publishing--offers general readers a rigorously researched book. The endnotes and bibliography rival academic tomes, but the volume is deliberately written as "a more accessible history" for neophytes. Despite the book's impressive breadth and engaging analysis, its emphasis on the role of White men is out of step with current social and historiography trends. Similarly, the part played by the Enlightenment in fomenting pseudo-scientific racist theories and social Darwinism is underaddressed. A sound, well-researched attempt to trace the fracturing of American politics. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.