Images of America: A Political, Industrial and Social Portrait

by R.L. Bruckberger (Editor)

Overview

"Either America is the hope of the world, or it is nothing. Th ere are those who have begun to despair of the West. It is for them that I am writing." Bruckberger's book has been compared by many to Tocqueville's Democracy in America. In both works, Americans see themselves through the sympathetic, sometimes critical eyes of a Frenchman. Bruckberger, as chaplain general of the French Resistance during World War II, was a scholar who lived a life of action, and a priest who knew the life of the spirit. He begins with a celebration of the American past, but also off ers a clear warning for the future.

The book was written after Bruckberger's eight years in the United States, during which he thought deeply about the country, and came to love and admire it. He sees what others have not, and his heroes are, in most instances, not the ones normally chosen. As seen from the perspective of the old Europe, the ideas and ideals that have shaped the history and character of America, take on a new meaning. The result is an image of America that is as enlightening as it is surprising.

Bruckberger believes America brings to the Western heritage an essential spark, one vital for the angry and perilous post-World War II world, and one equally important today. That is America's regard for the individual, for the non-abstract, living human being. This theme, contrasted with what Bruckberger sees as the heresy of Europe—the subordination of human beings to abstraction— is developed with wit and insight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412806541
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	04/15/2009
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

R. L. Bruckberger (1918-2008), author of The Seven Miracles of Gubbio, served as chaplain to the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the medal of the Legion of Honor for his work in the Resistance. He received General Charles de Gaulle in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in the midst of persisting enemy gunfi re when France was liberated from the Nazis.

Daniel J. Mahoney is chair and professor of political science at Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the recipient of the Prix Raymond Aron Award, is currently associate editor of Perspectives on Political Science, and is book review editor of Society. His books include The Liberal Political Science of Raymond Aron; Bertrand de Jouvenel: The Conservative Liberal and the Illusions of Modernity; and De Gaulle: Statesmanship, Grandeur, and Modern Democracy.

Table of Contents

I: The Political Revolution; 1: Montaigne and the Cannibals; 2: Tabula Rasa and Utopia; 3: Magna Charta and the Word of God; 4: The Pride of Being English; 5: The War; 6: Independence; 7: The National Vocation; 8: Thomas Jefferson and Saint-Just; 9: Sparta, Rome, the Land of Cockaigne, or Tartary; 10: The Declaration of Independence; 11: Congress and the Declaration; 12: The American Revolution; II: The Industrial and Social Revolution; 13: Once More Montaigne—but Other Cannibals; 14: Jefferson against Hamilton; 15: Karl Marx, America, and the Hippocratic Oath; 16: “The Chapter of the Hats”; 17: “The Only American Economist of Importance”; 18: The Prophet of a New Messiah; 19: A Trial of Orthodoxy; 20: Samuel Gompers and Lenin—“More-and-More” and “All-or-Nothing”

Editorial Reviews

-[Bruckberger's] social and historical observation blends sociology with history and provides a fine survey of American contributions to the world through the eyes of a relative newcomer, and it's a pick for any high school to college-level collection strong in American history and sociology.- -- The Bookwatch

"[Bruckberger's] social and historical observation blends sociology with history and provides a fine survey of American contributions to the world through the eyes of a relative newcomer, and it's a pick for any high school to college-level collection strong in American history and sociology." -- The Bookwatch

"[Bruckberger's] social and historical observation blends sociology with history and provides a fine survey of American contributions to the world through the eyes of a relative newcomer, and it's a pick for any high school to college-level collection strong in American history and sociology." -- The Bookwatch

"His social and historical observation blends sociology with history and provides a fine survey of American contributions to the world through the eyes of a relative newcomer, and it's a pick for any high school to college-level collection strong in American history and sociology."
-- "The Bookwatch"

From the Publisher