From revolution to civil rights, Old Hollywood to the Space Age—the extraordinary story of a nation that contains multitudes

"A masterpiece of concision and analysis. Every American should read it."—Judith Thurman, National Book Award–winning writer at the New Yorker

When Britain's thirteen American colonies declared their independence on July 4, 1776, the United States of America was born. It became a profoundly powerful nation that, for much of its history, has been the crucible of invention and creativity, a refuge for millions, and a beacon of hope, freedom, and multiculturalism. But from the start, it was hardly united. In this insightful, evenhanded account, Don Watson highlights the key figures who fought for the country's inalienable rights and embodied its indomitable spirit—in politics and at home, on the frontiers and in its cities, in books and music and on screens. And he traces how the central conflicts of the United States—those over freedom, race, enterprise, religion, and violence—evolve through its history. As we witness a country at war with itself in the 1860s, leading the free world less than a hundred years later, and beset by wild division and turmoil in the twenty-first century, we see that this singular nation has never ceased changing—and that the American experiment continues to unfold.