Purchased used from Powell's Books.
There is a lot of good stuff in this book. I have little post-it tabs all over, but I couldn’t find a through theme except maybe “don’t despair” and “keep up the fight”. And some of the pieces of American history that Meacham describes don’t seem to be clear illustrations of this theme. He describes McCarthy as a shallow political opportunist who knew how to manipulate the news but instead of highlighting the brave people who stood up to him, Meacham leaves us with the impression that the public just got tired of McCarthy.
The book’s final chapter “Conclusion” is an excellent piece exhorting us to pay attention and be political, to resist tribalism, to “respect facts and deploy reason”, “find a critical balance” and “keep history in mind”. It maybe that the rest of the book explains some of the history that we should keep in mind.

donated to the League of Women Voters of Oregon for a fund raising silent auction