The Idea of America

This is a thrilling anthology on the core of the America idea, with writings by the truest and best poets on American history and its meaning. 


It is edited by William Bonner and Pierre Lemieux with the goal of reminding us of the meaning of freedom itself, and making the point that freedom is the core idea. But what does freedom mean in its application? Is it something granted by government or something possessed and practiced as a matter of right by the people themselves? 


Murray Rothbard writes on the history of Colonial America. Patrick Henry explains why liberty matter. Thomas Paine presents the essence of freedom. Lord Acton explains the principles of the American Revolution. There are other writings by James Madison, Alexis de Tocqueville, Hector St John Crevecoeur, Benjamin Franklin, H.L. Mencken, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Voltairine de Cleyre, plus many critical documents in American history. 


The collection is completed by one of the best but most neglected essays in the history of ideas: "Give Me Liberty" by Rose Wilder Lane. 


William Bonner, widely regarded as among this generation's best essayists on freedom in public life, writes the afterword.