(Originally Published 2012, Paperback Edition 387 pages)
What is enjoyable about reading Mr. Dionne's book is his even-tempered
delivery. You will find no snarky sarcastic sentences written by the
author. Yes, Mr. Dionne is a progressive, but backs his work with an
accurate portrayal of how our country was born. He laments the current
manifestation of radical individualism that is called the Tea Party. He
clearly shows how our nation has always struggled to find a balance
between individual freedoms and mutual obligations. The book
persuasively explains that the Tea Party's extreme form of individualism
is taken from the short, 30-year, Gilded-Age era and is not reflective
of the Framers' true intent.
"Our Divided Political Heart" is not the kind of work which is effective if you read only a few pages per session. Mr. Dionne's trains of thought about such topics as populism, the politics of history, the various manifestations of liberalism and conservatism, and the impossibility of nailing down the Constitution's original intent is not casual reading. It was nice to read Mr. Dionne stressing that the Constitution was created by intelligent but flawed men and it is a political document that was formed through compromise and some obfuscation. What was especially reassuring about the book is the author relies heavily on the esteemed, Colonial historian Gordon Wood. (Mr. Wood's Pulitzer Prize-winning work "The Radicalism of the American Revolution" is extremely worth your while.)
Mr. Dionne is a very good writer, but the work has a slightly academic tone to it. Hopefully, this will not detract you from reading it. The book is highly informative, well-reasoned and ultimately a hopeful one.
"Our Divided Political Heart" is not the kind of work which is effective if you read only a few pages per session. Mr. Dionne's trains of thought about such topics as populism, the politics of history, the various manifestations of liberalism and conservatism, and the impossibility of nailing down the Constitution's original intent is not casual reading. It was nice to read Mr. Dionne stressing that the Constitution was created by intelligent but flawed men and it is a political document that was formed through compromise and some obfuscation. What was especially reassuring about the book is the author relies heavily on the esteemed, Colonial historian Gordon Wood. (Mr. Wood's Pulitzer Prize-winning work "The Radicalism of the American Revolution" is extremely worth your while.)
Mr. Dionne is a very good writer, but the work has a slightly academic tone to it. Hopefully, this will not detract you from reading it. The book is highly informative, well-reasoned and ultimately a hopeful one.
(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #386)
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