Overview

A stunning and sweeping new work of narrative history from bestselling historian Peter Moore tracing the Enlightenment ideas that birthed the United States of America. Bestselling historian Peter Moore traces how Enlightenment ideas were exported from Britain and put into practice in America - where they became the most successful export of all time, the American Dream 'Absorbing... fascinating... eloquent' THE TIMES 'Engaging and thoroughly reader-friendly' TELEGRAPH 'Wonderfully absorbing and stimulating' SARAH BAKEWELL 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness' is the best-known phrase from the Declaration of Independence, one of the most important documents of the eighteenth century and the whole Enlightenment Age. Written by Thomas Jefferson, it is frequently evoked today as a shorthand for that idea we call the 'American Dream'. But this is a line with a surprising history. Rather than being uniquely American, the vision it encapsulates - of a free and happy world - owes a great deal to British thinkers too. Centred on the life of Benjamin Franklin, featuring figures like the cultural giant Samuel Johnson, the ground-breaking historian Catharine Macaulay, the firebrand politician John Wilkes and revolutionary activist Thomas Paine, this book looks at the generation that preceded the Declaration in 1776. It takes us back to a vital moment in the foundation of the West, a time full of intent, confidence and ideas. It tells a whole new story about the birth of the United States of America - and some of the key principles by which we live to this very day. 'Deft insights and in clear prose' ALAN TAYLOR 'A gripping account' STELLA TILLYARD 'Rollicking...compulsive readability' WASHINGTON POST 'A great read' LADY HALE

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9781784743192

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Reviews

With deft insights and in clear prose, Moore restores the cosmopolitan origins of an American Revolution meant to liberate human potential. In this eloquent book, that revolution becomes more global and enduring and less parochial and limited * ALAN TAYLOR, Pulitzer Prize winning author of American Revolutions * With flair and insight, Peter Moore takes one of the most famous and deceptively simple lines in history - a line that founded a nation and changed the world. He digs into it, to unearth a wealth of unexpected influences and connections, a trove of gripping stories, and a vibrant company of characters. A wonderfully absorbing and stimulating book * SARAH BAKEWELL, author of At The Existentialist Cafe * What a scintillating read. Atmospheric yet analytical, well-paced yet deeply probing, Moore's book delivers striking new perspectives with the stylistic grace of the Founding Fathers. I loved it * DAISY DUNN, author of Not Far From Brideshead * The British empire of the eighteenth century blazed with the world-changing ideas and projects of thinkers and writers... Peter Moore captures this intellectual ferment in a fascinating narrative * ROBERT A. GROSS, author of The Minutemen and Their World * Deft, engaging and vivid, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness explores a vibrant, surprising and sometimes extraordinary period of history. Moore writes with such humanity and verve - I loved it * LUCY ATKINS, author of Magpie Lane *

With flair and insight, Peter Moore takes one of the most famous and deceptively simple lines in history - a line that founded a nation and changed the world. He digs into it, to unearth a wealth of unexpected influences and connections, a trove of gripping stories, and a vibrant company of characters. A wonderfully absorbing and stimulating book * SARAH BAKEWELL, author of At The Existentialist Cafe *

With deft insights and in clear prose, Moore restores the cosmopolitan origins of an American Revolution meant to liberate human potential. In this eloquent book, that revolution becomes more global and enduring and less parochial and limited * ALAN TAYLOR, Pulitzer Prize winning author of American Revolutions * With flair and insight, Peter Moore takes one of the most famous and deceptively simple lines in history - a line that founded a nation and changed the world. He digs into it, to unearth a wealth of unexpected influences and connections, a trove of gripping stories, and a vibrant company of characters. A wonderfully absorbing and stimulating book * SARAH BAKEWELL, author of At The Existentialist Cafe *

Author Information

Peter Moore is a writer, journalist and lecturer. He teaches creative writing at the University of Oxford. His debut, Damn His Blood, reconstructed a rural murder in 1806. His second, The Weather Experiment, a New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year', traced early efforts to forecast the weather. His latest book, Endeavour, was a multiple book of the year and a Sunday Times bestseller. He presents a history podcast called Travels Through Time.

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