Historian Simon Schama offers an essential historical perspective on the 2008 presidential election and its importance for reclaiming America's original ideal. Cultural hostilities more irreconcilable than any since the Civil War have divided America in two. In November 2008, the American people elected a new president, feeling more anxious about the future of the nation than at any time since Watergate. Our omnipotent military, the cornucopia of material comforts available, the security of our borders, and the global economy can no longer be taken for granted. Schama takes a long look at the multiple crises besetting the United States and asks how these problems look in the mirror of time. In four crucial debates--on wars, religion, race and immigration, and the relationship between natural resources and prosperity--Schama looks back to find lost insights into the future.--From publisher description.

"First published in Great Britain in 2008 by The Bodley Head"--T.p. verso.

Prologue : Iowa waltz -- Part I : American war -- Veterans Day : 11 November 2007 -- The fight for the citadel : soldiering and the Founding Fathers -- The Drop Zone Cafe, San Antonio, Texas, 3 March 2008 -- The trials of the Roman -- Taking sides -- Father and son -- The quartermaster general 1861-1864 -- John Rodgers Meigs, the Shenandoah Valley, summer and fall 1864 -- Montgomery Meigs and Louisa Rodgers Meigs, October 1864-December 1865 -- Washington D.C., February 2008 -- Hamilton resurrexit -- American war : Rohrbach-lès-Bitche, the Maginot Line near Metz, 10 December 1944 -- Part II : American fervor -- Atlantic City, August 1964 -- Saved -- Raven, Virginia, 2008 -- Providence -- "Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free--" -- National sin -- Jarena Lee -- The sovereignty of the voice -- Easter Sunday, 2008, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta -- Great white hopes? -- Ruleville, Mississippi, 31 August 1962 -- Part III : What is an American? -- Twilight, Downing Street, June 2008 -- Citizen Heartbreak : France, August 1794 -- The German threat -- The Chicken Club, south Texas, July 2008 -- The immigrant problem in Texas -- The German threat - again -- The importance of Fred Bee -- Grace under pressure -- Jefferson's Koran -- Part IV : American plenty -- Running on empty? -- Strawberry fields, 1775 -- White Path, 1801-1823 -- 1893 -- The church of irrigation -- Ghost house -- Roll up that lawn -- Windmills -- Epilogue: The impotent angel?