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New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection
One of President Bill Clinton’s “Best Things I’ve Read This Year”
From the acclaimed historian and New Yorker writer comes this urgent manifesto on the dilemma of nationalism and the erosion of liberalism in the twenty-first century.
"Ambitious.... a thoughtful and passionate defense of her vision of American patriotism.... [Lepore] dedicates her book to her father, 'whose immigrant parents named him Amerigo in 1924, the year Congress passed a law banning immigrants like them.
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"A sharp, short history of nationalism.... A frank, well-written look at the dangers we face. We ignore them at our peril.
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"Urgent and pithy… Readers seeking clear and relevant definitions of political concepts will appreciate this brisk yet thorough, frank, and bracing look at the ancient origins of the nation state versus the late-eighteenth-century coinage of the term ‘nationalism’ and its alignment with exclusion and prejudice.
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"A hopeful book for all who believe that America's ideals are stronger than our demagogues.
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Jill Lepore is the David Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, her many books include the international bestseller These Truths and If Then, which was longlisted for the National Book Award.