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These Truths
A review of

These Truths

A History of the United States

Jill LeporeW.W. Norton • 2018

America Revealed

by David Meyer

Prolific author and Harvard professor Jill Lepore offers a compelling, comprehensive American history seen through the prism of the Declaration of Independence.

 

Historian and Harvard professor Jill Lepore, a sleuth and storyteller, explores the principles underlying the “political history” of the United States. She revisits the questions Alexander Hamilton asked in Federalist No. 1: If Americans can gain a free democracy, can they keep it?

The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden. It can’t be shirked. You carry it everywhere. There’s nothing for it but to get to know it.Jill Lepore

Lepore’s approachable “civics primer” provides an insightful guide for those reflecting on history with a critical, inquiring eye and for every US voter.