Review
• ‘The book of the year’ Will Hutton
• ‘Splendid … a serious political work, which borders on being a revolutionary’s manifesto.’ Time
• ‘Both Blair and Hague would do well to read it’ George Walden
• ‘As an example of its genre, Bring Home the Revolution is perfect’ Evening Standard
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Product Description
On a switchback ride through the USA, riding pillion with America’s founding fathers, Jonathan Freedland searches out the qualities that made America the land at the end of his childhood rainbow, the place his grandfather and he conspired to run off to because of its open promise and unbounded potential.
Noisy, crass, greedy, riddled with crime, riven by race, obsessed by money: America, exporter of junk to the UK. Or is it?
From Lesbianville in New Hampshire to Tent City in Arizona, from the high kitsch celebration of Liberace to the Bible Belt austerity of Iowa, from the paranoid militia of rural Montana to Florida’s Condo Canyon, this is a journey to the heart of modern America – to Normal, Illinois.
On his travels Freedland reveals how Americans control of their own lives, shape their own communities and vibrantly assert their rights. And there’s even a twist: the spirit that inspires the American secret is actually our own – a British revolutionary fervour mislaid across the Atlantic.
This what has made America the diverse, freedom-loving, self-sufficient, independent icon to the world: the place where socialism never took hold because it is inherent in the founding vision, where capitalism at the same time has reached its apogee; where many cultures contribute to the national fabric and yet the sense of belonging to the nation and reverence for its symbols is unmatched across the globe. It’s time Britain shared the vitality: time to reclaim the revolution and bring it home.
From the Back Cover
Britain imports American culture by the crate load. We watch their TV, eat their burgers and copy their language. Our kids wear their trainers, our companies mimic their style. With Nikes on our feet and downsizing in our industries, the US influence is everywhere. But are we getting the best of America?
After criss-crossing the United States, Jonathan Freedland thinks not. From the women of Lesbianville to the hardmen of rural Montana, he discovers that it is America's political culture we should steal. More democratic, more egalitarian and more radical than our own, it is richer than we ever realised.
Drawing on its music, movies and mores – as well as the politics – Freedland journeys to the heart of modern America. He searches beyond the tired clichés of a nation riven by race, riddled with crime and obsessed with money, revealing that many of the dreams of today's British reformers have already been made real – in the United States.
But there's a twist. The American ideal is actually our own. Contrary to the old wisdom, Britain did have a revolution. The trouble is, we had it in America. The Founding Fathers were British pioneers who exported our revolution – and with it our rightful destiny. Now is the time to bring it back home.
In a vivid, colourful and highly readable book, Jonathan Freedland shatters the old stereotypes of America, throws fresh light on Britain and offers a new brand of political culture – one for radicals of every stripe.
About the Author
Jonathan Freedland is a columnist and leader writer for the Guardian. Until 1997 he was the paper’s Washington Correspondent. Previously a reporter for BBC news and current
affairs, he has been a frequent contributor to magazines on both sides of the
Atlantic, including Vogue, GQ and Elle. This is his first book.
