This Noble Land:: My Vision for America
Random House (NY), October 1996. First Edition. Hardcover. Used - Very Good / Very Good. Item #267592
ISBN: 0679451528
Deteriorating race relations, a growing disparity between rich and poor, the decline of education and a growing anti-intellectualism, inadequate health care - these are among the fracture points that Mr. Michener believes threaten America's vitality and its future. As a scholar of world history, a dedicated, lifelong public servant, and a student of his own and other cultures, Michener offers a broad and learned perspective on these much debated issues. He compares America's shift from a producer to a consumer nation to a similar movement in sixteenth-century Spain - a movement that presaged the decline of the Spanish empire. In today's control of vast wealth by a tiny handful of people, he sees parallels with the Catholic Church's monopoly on wealth in pre-Reformation Europe. He evaluates the Contract with America and other current political initiatives in light of the Founding Fathers' understanding of the social contract and the responsibility the more fortunate have to those who are less privileged. And as a lifelong practitioner and patron of the arts, Michener writes movingly of the arts as agents for change - for transforming the soul and ensuring a civilization's greatness - even as he condemns the anti-art stance of many politicians today. Michener draws not only on his knowledge of history but also on over eight decades of living as an American. He recalls how as a young boy in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse he pledged allegiance to the flag, and through the years his reverence for the sound principles on which America was founded has remained strong. Through the trials of young manhood during the Great Depression and the Second World War, and through the decades since, JamesMichener has been deeply involved in America's political life. He has experienced and studied the qualities that have made America what he calls "the outstanding success" among nations, and in his wise, opinionated, and impassioned book he calls on Americans to hold fast to America's.
Delving deeper than the newspaer headlines, James Michener--storyteller, historian, teacher, government advisor, traveler, and student of his own and other cultures--gives readers his evaluation of nine fundamental problems facing America, offering insights into how to solve them. Written in Michener's trademark intimate style--so loved by readers in his bestselling memoir The World Is My Home--this book is a must for all Americans in this election year. First/first. {6' x 9 & 1/2'} In bright, clean dustjacket. Flap is not clipped. Quarter bound. Pine green cloth covered spine with gold lettering on spine. Boards are covered with pine green paper with the author's gold initials, J.A.M. and gold tooled horizontal bar/underline capped off with floral flourish. End pages are fiber ladden chartreus. Tightly bound. Clean textblock edges. Unmarked interiors. This is a first printing dispite the number line: 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3. For most publishers (including RH after this short interval) this would tell us we had a 2nd edition. For a short lived period Randam House adapted missing number indicates printing stylistic choice. [258 pp.]
Used Book
Price: $11.50
