{"product_id":"all-we-say-the-battle-for-american-identity-a-history-in-15-speeches","title":"All We Say","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide?\u003c\/i\u003e This sweeping history of the United States told through fifteen speeches relives the battle over American identity, from a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author and one of President Barack Obama's former speechwriters.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"At a time of moral and political drift, Ben Rhodes reminds us what American greatness actually sounds like, and what it means.\"--Ayad Akhtar, author of \u003ci\u003eHomeland Elegies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e For 250 years, we have debated what it means to be American. This question shaped the compromises in our Constitution and the arguments we've been having ever since--spawning abolitionism, secession, and civil war; populism, mass migration, and global leadership; movements for reform and the backlashes to them. In \u003ci\u003eAll We Say\u003c\/i\u003e, Ben Rhodes tells the story of fifteen speeches--some iconic, others long forgotten--which have both shaped and reflected the argument Americans have been having from our founding to the intense divisions of our time.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Through riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements, and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of our battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of America itself: a nation divided between two stories--one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging. Drawing on a decade writing for Barack Obama, Rhodes also shows us how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in American democracy.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From Benjamin Franklin's call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention, to Alexander Stephens' case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy; from Martin Luther King's dream of true equality to Donald Trump's rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity--and truth--is contested, \u003ci\u003eAll We Say\u003c\/i\u003e offers a fresh and powerful look at who we really are and who we could still become.","brand":"Unity Books","offers":[{"title":"All We Say The Battle for American Identity: a History in 15 Speeches","offer_id":46299638825157,"sku":null,"price":81.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0625\/6679\/3413\/files\/978-0-593-59512-1.jpg?v=1780366225","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.myshopify.com\/products\/all-we-say-the-battle-for-american-identity-a-history-in-15-speeches","provider":"Unity Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}