Has America, in its quest for goodness, sacrificed its sense of greatness? In this sharp-witted, historically informed book, veteran political observer Alan Wolfe argues that most Americans show greater concern with saving the country's soul than with making the nation great. Wolfe castigates both conservatives and liberals for opting for small-mindedness over greatness. Liberals, who at their best insisted on policies of national solidarity, have convinced themselves that small is beautiful, prefer multiculturalism to one nation, and are mistrustful of executive political power. Conservatives, who once embraced strong, active central government and an ideal of national citizenship, now support huge tax cuts that undermine America's future ability to undertake any ambitious, long-term project at home or abroad. No great society, in Wolfe's view, has ever been built on the cheap. Wolfe notes that neither the conservatives' call for small-scale faith-based initiatives nor the recent embrace on the left of a grassroots "civil society" can provide health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans or ensure national security in an age of terrorism. To find better solutions, Wolfe looks back at specific moments in our national experience, when, in the face of sharp resistance, aspirations for the idea of national greatness shaped American history. He demonstrates how a bold and ambitious political agenda, championed at various times by Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Abraham Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts, steered the country toward periods of national strength and unity. Steeped in a colorful, panoramic reading of history, Return to Greatness offers a fresh take on American national identity and purpose. A call to action for a renewed embrace of the ideal of an activist federal government and bold policy agendas, it is sure to become a centerpiece of national debate.

Has apocalyptic thinking contributed to some of our nation's biggest problems—inequality, permanent war, and the despoiling of our natural resources? From the Puritans to the present, historian and public policy advocate Betsy Hartmann sheds light on a pervasive but—until now—invisible theme shaping the American mindset: apocalyptic thinking, or the belief that the end of the world is nigh. Hartmann makes a compelling case that apocalyptic fears are deeply intertwined with the American ethos, to our detriment. In The America Syndrome, she seeks to reclaim human agency and, in so doing, revise the national narrative. By changing the way we think, we just might change the world.

Chalfant's important book will produce bountiful blessings upon the Christian ministries of this troubled land. He has captured the essence of militant Christianity as it relates to love of country and devotion to democratic principles, which is every citizen's opportunity and obligation to uphold.

A Call to Greatness examines how our next President can learn from the successes and failures of past Presidents to be an effective leader during a time of tremendous challenges at home and abroad.

For decades, America has been recognized worldwide as a land of prosperity. Thousands of foreigners have struggled to come here in order to establish a better life for themselves and their families. America leaves only a few, if any at all, indifferent. Whether you are oceans away, whether you like it or not, America influences your mind, body and soul every day. For all its problems, for all the criticisms it has taken, America remains the single most important country in the world—able to exercise influence in every field and on every continent in a way that no other great nation can. America is not an indomitable lion only on the planet earth but on the surface of the moon, too. So far, only 12 human beings have set foot on the surface of the moon; and they’ve all been from the United States. America is great— not because of the height of its buildings, the strength of its military, the power of its dollars or the size and compositions of its land; it is not great because God has chosen its people to be great; it is great because its inhabitants have thought and worked hard to make it so. “Things don’t just happen,” Americans often say. “somebody takes risks to make them happen.” Very few happenings are considered as luck. Americans believe that God should be “left alone.” We’d stop sitting on our butts waiting on God to give us food, money, wisdom… I hope that the readers will find in Presidents Obama/Roosevelt/Lincoln and Oprah Winfrey—whose against-the-odds life journeys affirm the American Dreams—the problems they themselves could possibly use as excuses to give up on their dreams. In this book, their stories –and much more—will inspire you to rise above your problems and circumstances.

Named a "Notable Naval Book of 2012" by Proceedings Magazine Their stories needed to be told. And classmates working together, under a blanket of trust and friendship, was the only way to allow people to open up. It was a three year journey into the hearts and souls of America’s youngest heroes to gather these important historical accounts, but it was worth every hour spent. Inside this book are the voices the first Annapolis graduates into a decade of war and they remind us that America is in good hands. They were walking to class on 9/11, wearing Naval Academy “summer working blues”, when the towers were struck. The campus went to general quarters, battle stations. They would be the first class after this attack to graduate into a nation at war and would be faced, like so many past graduates, of rising to the challenge to keeping America great. President Bush and Vice President Cheney articulated a world at the crossroads, and the U.S. would preemptively in seek enemies who threatened the national interest, America would not again be terrorized. In the Shadow of Greatness addresses issues that go beyond one USNA class, it explains the trials of most military veterans of this era. Understanding how a young person enlists to serve, deploys to the fight, and returns home is unknown to most Americans. Veterans pack up their uniforms, but never lose the call for service when the return to civilian society. The profiles in this book represent the “Next Great Generation” of American leaders. Men and women who lost their innocence in battle and their youths to a decade of deployments, throughout which they never gave up hope. In exchange for down range scars, they gained an unbreakable sense of purpose to America’s ideals—freedom, equality, and democracy. The compilation is the most authentic and raw narrative to emerge from the Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond. The reader enjoys a spectrum of stories, each patriotic and honorable. The narratives are meant to inspire, educate, and reveal a world many don’t understand. Its contents are readable and easy to appreciate. The Class of 2002—and more broadly, the one million veterans of the Long War—are America’s leaders of tomorrow. Read this book to learn what they endured and why they are prepared.

How is it possible that the conservative elite, Washington insiders, and mainstream media were so completely out of touch with reality during the 2016 US presidential election cycle? American Greatness is an analysis and indictment of the mainstream media, liberal commentariat, and conservative establishment that implicitly undermined, if not insulted, some 60 million fellow Americans when they treated Donald Trump's candidacy as a sideshow. With so little humility or self-reflection--and no apology!--how can these so-called experts continue reporting on and analyzing a country and polity they have essentially admitted they do not understand? After all, what they got wrong in 2016 was not just an election. What they got wrong was America.