Eric Foner's The Story Of American Freedom

518 Words3 Pages
American historian Eric Foner writes about how the idea of freedom in America has altered throughout history in one of his bestsellers, The Story of American Freedom. Prize winning Foner covers a long period of time of American history and expresses his thoughts in a remarkable way informing readers about the struggles America has suffered in the search of freedom. From beginning to end Foner argues about what the actual meaning of “freedom” is. To majority of Americans freedom means “independence” and “the power to be able to do whatever one wants.” According to Foner, freedom “embodies not a single idea but a complex of values,” he says, “it’s meaning is simultaneously an intellectual, social, economic, and political contest.” (Foner introduction xv) Foner does an outstanding job at changing the definition of freedom by proving his argument with factual information and stories from the past. Throughout the book, Foner uses many historical scenarios to provide readers with logical evidence to prove that freedom has a different meaning than we think. Foner uses events such as, the Cold War, the American Revolution, and World War I and II, to persuade readers that the thought of freedom changes to people based on what is going on at the…show more content…
Foner’s epic piece of work is highly recommended to all historians and anyone who is fond of the true meaning of “freedom.” This book will enlighten minds and will most likely change peoples ways of thinking. Foner covers years and years of American history and does a remarkable job at showing readers a new way to look at the concept of “freedom.” After reading this book readers can expect to have new views on the true meaning of liberty and will know much more about history than they might want. This book is intended for hard-core historians who are heavy
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