Democracy awakening Notes on the state of America
Large print - 2023
"From historian and author of the popular daily newsletter Letters From An American, a vital narrative that explains how America, once a beacon of democracy, now teeters on the brink of autocracy -- and how we can turn back. In the midst of the impeachment crisis of 2019, Heather Cox Richardson launched a daily Facebook essay providing the historical background of the daily torrent of news. The essays soon turned into a newsletter and, spread by word of mouth, its readership ballooned to more than 2 million dedicated readers who rely on its plainspoken and informed take on the present and past in America. In Democracy Awakening, Richardson crafts a compelling and original narrative, explaining how, over the decades, a small group of we...althy people have made war on American ideals. By weaponizing language and promoting false history they have led us into authoritarianism -- creating a disaffected population and then promising to recreate an imagined past where those people could feel important again. She argues that taking our country back starts by remembering the elements of the nation's true history that marginalized Americans have always upheld. Their dedication to the principles on which this nation was founded has enabled us to renew and expand our commitment to democracy in the past. Richardson sees this history as a roadmap for the nation's future. Richardson's unique talent is to wrangle our giant, meandering, confusing news feed into a coherent story that singles out what we should pay attention to, what the historical roots and precedents are, and what possible paths lie ahead. Writing in her trademark calm prose, she manages to be both realistic and optimistic about the future of democracy. Richardson's easy command of history allows her to pivot effortlessly from the Founders to the abolitionists to Reconstruction to Goldwater to Mitch McConnell, highlighting the political legacies of the New Deal, the lingering fears of socialism, the death of the liberal consensus and birth of "movement conservatism." There are many books that tell us what has happened over the last five years. Democracy Awakening explains how we got to this perilous point, what our history really tells us about ourselves, and what the future of democracy can be"--
- Subjects
- Genres
- History
Large print books - Published
-
[New York] :
Random House Large Print
[2023]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Edition
- First large print edition
- Physical Description
- xxii, 403 pages (large print) ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-372) and index.
- ISBN
- 9780593792612
- Foreword
- Part 1. Undermining Democracy
- Chapter 1. American Conservatism
- Chapter 2. The Liberal Consensus
- Chapter 3. Bringing the Declaration of Independence to Life
- Chapter 4. Race and Taxes
- Chapter 5. Nixon and the Southern Strategy
- Chapter 6. Positive Polarization
- Chapter 7. The Reagan Revolution
- Chapter 8. Skewing the System
- Chapter 9. A New Global Project
- Chapter 10. Illegitimate Democracy
- Part 2. The Authoritarian Experiment
- Chapter 11. A Snapshot of America
- Chapter 12. A Shocking Event
- Chapter 13. Russia, Russia, Russia
- Chapter 14. The Streets of Charlottesville
- Chapter 15. The First Impeachment
- Chapter 16. Destabilizing the Government
- Chapter 17. Embracing Authoritarianism
- Chapter 18. Rewriting American History
- Chapter 19. January 6
- Chapter 20. The Big Lie
- Part 3. Reclaiming America
- Chapter 21. What Is America?
- Chapter 22. Declaring Independence
- Chapter 23. The Constitution
- Chapter 24. Expanding Democracy
- Chapter 25. Mudsills or Men
- Chapter 26. Of the People, by the People, for the People
- Chapter 27. America Renewed
- Chapter 28. A Progressive America
- Chapter 29. The Road to the New Deal
- Chapter 30. Democracy Awakening
- Conclusion Reclaiming Our Country
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review