{"product_id":"american-character-a-history-of-the-epic-struggle-between-individual-liberty-and-the-common-good-paperback","title":"American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eColin Woodard\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Nations\u003c\/i\u003e examines the history of and solutions to the key American question: how best to reconcile individual liberty with the maintenance of a free society\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The struggle between individual rights and the good of the community as a whole has been the basis of nearly every major disagreement in our history, from the debates at the Constitutional Convention and in the run up to the Civil War to the fights surrounding the agendas of the Federalists, the Progressives, the New Dealers, the civil rights movement, and the Tea Party. In \u003ci\u003eAmerican Character\u003c\/i\u003e, Colin Woodard traces these two key strands in American politics through the four centuries of the nation's existence, from the first colonies through the Gilded Age, Great Depression and the present day, and he explores how different regions of the country have successfully or disastrously accommodated them. The independent streak found its most pernicious form in the antebellum South but was balanced in the Gilded Age by communitarian reform efforts; the New Deal was an example of a successful coalition between communitarian-minded Eastern elites and Southerners. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWoodard argues that maintaining a liberal democracy, a society where mass human freedom is possible, requires finding a balance between protecting individual liberty and nurturing a free society. Going to either libertarian or collectivist extremes results in tyranny. But where does the \"sweet spot\" lie in the United States, a federation of disparate regional cultures that have always strongly disagreed on these issues? Woodard leads readers on a riveting and revealing journey through four centuries of struggle, experimentation, successes and failures to provide an answer. His historically informed and pragmatic suggestions on how to achieve this balance and break the nation's political deadlock will be of interest to anyone who cares about the current American predicament--political, ideological, and sociological.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin Woodard, an award-winning writer and journalist, is currently the state and national affairs writer at the \u003ci\u003ePortland Press Herald\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMaine Sunday Telegram \u003c\/i\u003eand received a 2012 George Polk Award for an investigative project he did for those papers. A longtime foreign correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Chronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e, he has reported from more than fifty foreign countries and six continents. His work has appeared in dozens of publications, including \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePolitico, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNewsweek, The Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBloomberg View, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWashington Monthly.\u003c\/i\u003e A graduate of Tufts University and the University of Chicago, he is the author of four previous books including \u003ci\u003eAmerican Nations\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Republic of Pirates\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.3 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 14, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978803904813,"sku":"9780143110002","price":19.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/ZkJiaFdnN001eEZNRnlhTks0MFNHQT09.webp?v=1775810401","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/american-character-a-history-of-the-epic-struggle-between-individual-liberty-and-the-common-good-paperback","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}