Heather Cox Richardson

I never really understood the great effort that went into Conservative polarization of the United States population following the civil war. I see now that it was much more than simply two parties which disagreed, and the division in our country has always been more pronounced than I ever believed.

I don’t particularly like reading about politics, but I have always felt reassured by Heather Cox Richardson’s method of framing current events in a historical context. For that reason alone, I was eager to read this book. Most of the information was what I already knew to some degree, but she did have a way of teaching me details that I did not already know. I find her to be a credible source of information.

What I’m realizing is that things that happen in politics which enrage me now are really old tropes which previous generations also had to deal with. It definitely helps to clarify democracy in the United States for me by seeing its progress and its regression through the lens of history.… (més)

I've been reading Heather Cox Richardson's daily Letters from an American think-pieces for several years now. I enjoy
• that she holds on to a vision of genuine democracy that is anything but naive
• that she explains the complexities of current and historical events with precision
• that she finds meaningful connections among these current and historical events that allow me to see my own time more clearly.

Democracy Awakening offers a systematic approach to a number of issues addressed in Letters from an American: the history of (and current) anti-democratic thinking in the U.S., the shifts in Democratic and Republican stances over time, the continuing legacy of the Civil War that plays out in current events (she's a well-respected scholar of the Civil War). Most of the content here was familiar, at least in a general way because I'm familiar with her work, but I very much appreciated having it organized in a way that gave me a firm narrative understanding of the order of events and their influences on one another.

If you're at a loss to understand what is happening these days in the U.S., Richardson can help. If you're frustrated by anti-democratic politics, she can help you gird your loins and stay in the struggle. If you enjoy reading U.S. history, you'll appreciate her specificity and clarity. If you're delighted by the upsurge in anti-democratic politics in the U.S., I don't know that I can convince you to read this book—but I sure wish you would.

We've been here before. We'll be here again. The "all" in "all created equal" continues to expand and to call us to broaden our sense of who "we" are.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.… (més)

Having read Heather Cox Richardson’s daily newsletter for a while, I’m familiar with her style and her insistence on documentation for everything she says. This book is primarily a history book, which makes sense since HCR is a historian. She recounts the birth of our nation especially as it pertains to the place for the non-powerful citizens in that country. The book comes full circle to a discussion of the dangers of Autocracy….for obvious reasons. Her concluding chapter is powerful, one every American should read. It is reasonably optimistic amid all the gloom of the current times, that the reader can walk away from “Democracy Awakening” with the hope that we are on the cusp on another “awakening” in our democracy.… (més)