#1 New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham introduces America’s essential founding documents in an elegant and timeless volume.

In the winter of 1860–1861, as the nation faced secession and civil war, President Abraham Lincoln looked to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as the foundation of the American experiment—and the embodiment of the principle of “Liberty to all.” That principle, Lincoln believed, was not only worth defending but vital to the nation’s survival.

Presented with a new introduction by Jon Meacham, these documents remain as urgent today as they were at the nation’s founding. As Meacham writes: “If America is to be America, the foundational documents reprinted here must be not theoretical but tactile, not quaint but vivid, not dead but alive.”

Details:

• Author: Jon Meacham¬†
• Genre: History / Political Science / American Government
• Contents: Full text of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution with Jon Meacham‚Äôs introduction
• Themes: Founding documents, liberty, democracy, American history