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    American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good
    American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good
    American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good
    Audiobook9 hours

    American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good

    Written by Colin Woodard

    Narrated by Jonathan Yen

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The struggle between individual rights and the good of the community has been the basis of nearly every major disagreement in our history, from the debates at the Constitutional Convention to the fights surrounding the agendas of the Federalists, the Progressives, and the Tea Party. In#160;American Character, Colin Woodard traces these key strands in American politics through the four centuries of the nation's existence, and how different regions of the country have successfully or disastrously accommodated them. Woodard argues that maintaining a liberal democracy 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 ldquo;sweet spotrdquo; 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateMar 15, 2016
    ISBN9781681680354
    American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good
    Author

    Colin Woodard

    Colin Woodard, an award-winning author and journalist, is State & National Affairs Writer for The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, and a longtime correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor and The Chronicle of Higher Education. His work has appeared in The Economist, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Smithsonian, Newsweek/The Daily Beast, Bloomberg View, Washington Monthly and dozens of other national and international publications. A native of Maine, he has reported from more than fifty foreign countries and six continents, and lived for more than four years in Eastern Europe during and after the collapse of communism. His investigative reporting for the Telegram won a 2012 George Polk Award. His book, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, was named a Best Book of 2011 by the editors of The New Republic and the Globalist and won the 2012 Maine Literary Award for Non-Fiction. A graduate of Tufts University and the University of Chicago, he lives in Midcoast Maine.

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    Reviews for American Character

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    • 4/5
      What is more important? An individual's right's or the common good of the community? This is the subject Woodard has taken on. He discusses the struggle between the two over the length of our countrie's history. I was surprised that the question first came up long ago, way back during the original conventions to draft our Constitution. Woodard does an admirable job of describing the problem throughout our history, finding that sometimes the pendulum swings towards the individual, sometimes towards the overall good of society. It is evident that the struggle will continue in the future, and that it is important that the balance does not tilt to far either way. Along the way, the author presents a good job of presenting facts, seemingly not having an agenda towards either side of the argument. I feel that this is an important book for the current times, as our government seems to be frozen in place, with neither side willing to work towards an acceptable, balanced solution. If we don't fix it soon, woe onto us!The book was well written, flowed nicely, and was extensively documented with footnotes. A good read!
    • 4/5
      I was giving this book by Goodreads First-Reads program in exchange for a review.

      This was a very entertaining and interesting and readable book. Very intelligent, interesting, engaging, and showing the 'character' of America from landfall to 2015-2016. The book does a great job detailing libertarians, and conservatives, spenders and cut-backs; Republicans and Democrats (and Whigs - and Tea Party - and even independents to a degree). For the majority of the book there is no real leaning or political bias or any bias of any sort... until you get to the end, and then it comes shining through a bit - but it's not 'rose tinted glasses' biasness and it doesn't really detract from the work or the information. Overall, a very informative book that many should read to get a better grasp of American politics and how people view spending vs. not-spending, view things like Welfare, Medicare, Social Security, gun control, etc.