Overview

Featured on the front page of the New York Times, Our Declaration is already regarded as a seminal work that reinterprets the promise of American democracy through our founding text. Combining a personal account of teaching the Declaration with a vivid evocation of the colonial world between 1774 and 1777, Allen, a political philosopher renowned for her work on justice and citizenship reveals our nation’s founding text to be an animating force that not only changed the world more than two-hundred years ago, but also still can. Challenging conventional wisdom, she boldly makes the case that the Declaration is a document as much about political equality as about individual liberty. Beautifully illustrated throughout, Our Declaration is an “uncommonly elegant, incisive, and often poetic primer on America’s cardinal text” (David M. Kennedy).

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9781631490446

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Sets forth a bold thesis... Allen's passion for each of the Declaration's 1,337 words is admirable. -- Steven B. Smith This wise and rich book is what we need in these troubled times-a robust and persuasive defense of equality and liberty grounded in our national scripture. Danielle Allen is a towering political philosopher of the democratic art of being and a force for good! -- Cornel West, author of Democracy Matters: Winning the War on Imperialism Danielle Allen celebrates the Declaration of Independence by reading it closely-line by line, comma by comma-and invites her fellow citizens to do the same. The result is a richly rewarding book that demonstrates the pleasures of slow reading, the power of words to shape events, and the importance of equality to democratic life. -- Michael Sandel, author of What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets A primer on all that we have been missing... Not just an invaluable civics lesson but also a poignant personal memoir... Allen is an evangelist for this romantic moment in American history when men of uncommon vision and political deftness stated their case and listed their grievances against the most powerful nation on Earth. -- Thane Rosenbaum An astounding new book that should reinvigorate public understanding of the founding document of the United States... Reading Ms. Allen makes reading the Declaration meaningful and enjoyable-a powerful enough lesson in its own right. -- Sarah J. Purcell

An astounding new book that should reinvigorate public understanding of the founding document of the United States Reading Ms. Allen makes reading the Declaration meaningful and enjoyable a powerful enough lesson in its own right. --Sarah J. Purcell

Author Information

Danielle Allen, a professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, is a political philosopher widely known for her work on justice and citizenship in both ancient Athens and modern America. She lives in Princeton with her husband and two children.

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