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These Truths: A History of the United States

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These Truths: A History of the United States Paperback – Illustrated, October 1, 2019

by Jill Lepore (Author)

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“Nothing short of a masterpiece.” ―NPR Books
A New York Times Bestseller and a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year

In the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, award-winning historian Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation.

Widely hailed for its “sweeping, sobering account of the American past” (New York Times Book Review), Jill Lepore’s one-volume history of America places truth itself―a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence―at the center of the nation’s history. The American experiment rests on three ideas―“these truths,” Jefferson called them―political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise?

These Truths tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation’s truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore wrestles with the state of American politics, the legacy of slavery, the persistence of inequality, and the nature of technological change. “A nation born in contradiction… will fight, forever, over the meaning of its history,” Lepore writes, but engaging in that struggle by studying the past is part of the work of citizenship. With These Truths, Lepore has produced a book that will shape our view of American history for decades to come.

70 illustrations

Print length

960 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

October 1, 2019
Dimensions

6.1 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
ISBN-10

0393357422
ISBN-13

978-0393357424
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From the Publisher

Praise for Jill Lepore's These Truths

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of September 2018:: It takes an ambitious historian to write a single volume history of the United States: Enter Jill Lepore, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer. These Truths sets out first to remind people how the United States got its start. The “truths,” as Thomas Jefferson called them, were political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. But Lepore also notes that history is a form of inquiry, something to be questioned, discussed, disputed. Has this country lived up to These Truths? she asks. The answer, as you might expect, is yes and no (though more yes than no). And the book itself is engrossing and even-handed, examining our contradictions—like a land of liberty supporting slavery—and singling out important historical figures, some well-known—like Benjamin Franklin—as well as others who were key voices in their time, but have since been left on history’s curb—like Mary Lease, leading voice of the People’s Party. As the book traces wars, policy decisions, and national debates, one can’t help but feel that the arguments we are seeing today have been carried out all throughout our history. When the final chapter (America, Disrupted) brings us to Obama, and then Trump, the narrative has lost no steam—rather, it has coalesced into a national story approaching coherence, something resembling the Founding Fathers’ more perfect union, though never actually perfect. --Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review

Review

"Lepore has written the most honest accounting of our country’s history that I’ve ever read."
― Bill Gates

"It isn’t until you start reading it that you realize how much we need a book like this one at this particular moment.… Brilliant."
― Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Book Review

"[These Truths] captures the fullness of the past, where hope rises out of despair, renewal out of destruction, and forward momentum out of setbacks."
― Jack E. Davis, Chicago Tribune

"It is the story of a nation, multiracial at its founding, and those who sought to find ways to realize ‘these truths.’"
― John S. Gardner, Guardian

"This sweeping, sobering account of the American past is a story not of relentless progress but of conflict and contradiction, with crosscurrents of reason and faith, black and white, immigrant and native, industry and agriculture rippling through a narrative that is far from completion."
― New York Times Book Review

"[Lepore’s] one-volume history is elegant, readable, sobering; it extends a steadying hand when a breakneck news cycle lurches from one event to another, confounding minds and churning stomachs."
― Jennifer Szalai, New York Times

"Those devoted to an honest reckoning with America’s past have their work cut out for them. Lepore’s book is a good place to start."
― H. W. Brands, Washington Post

"Sweeping and propulsive."
― Boris Kachka, Vulture

"In her epic new work, Jill Lepore helps us learn from whence we came."
― Natalie Beach, O, Oprah Magazine

"Gripping, moving, and beautifully written."
― Evan Thomas, Boston Globe

"A splendid rendering―filled with triumph, tragedy, and hope―that will please Lepore’s readers immensely and win her many new ones."
― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Revised edition (October 1, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 960 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393357422
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393357424
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.11 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #30,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #197 in U.S. State & Local History
- #565 in World History (Books)

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Jill Lepore

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Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale in 1995. Her first book, "The Name of War," won the Bancroft Prize; her 2005 book, "New York Burning," was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 2008 she published "Blindspot," a mock eighteenth-century novel, jointly written with Jane Kamensky. Lepore's most recent book, "The Whites of Their Eyes," is a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.

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Aaron Rogers

Great Book and thank you Dr.Calder

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023

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I recently had the pleasure of reading These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most informative and enjoyable books I have ever read. Jill Lepore does an incredible job of presenting a comprehensive and nuanced history of our country, covering everything from the founding of the nation to present day.

One of the things that stood out to me most about this book was the way it challenged some of my preconceived notions about American history. Lepore does not shy away from tackling controversial topics and presenting multiple perspectives on events, and I found myself constantly learning new things and questioning my own beliefs as I read.

I also have to give a shoutout to my amazing history teacher, Dr. Calder, who recommended this book to me and provided such fantastic guidance and insight while I was reading it. His passion for history and his ability to bring the material to life in the classroom truly made this book an even more enriching experience.

In short, I highly recommend These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore to anyone with an interest in American history. It is a well-written, thought-provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable read. Thank you, Dr. Calder, for introducing me to it!

6 people found this helpful

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Good product

Big Picture

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2024

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Sweeping view of American History, engaging, well researched, focusing both on achievements and failures.

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Mark Twain

A superb history book that reads like a novel you wish would never end

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2018

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Jill Lepore is a national treasure, a writer-with-attitude who rose from being a secretary at Harvard to chair of its History Department. She is an obsessive researcher, unearthing bits that keep the narrative moving and often funny. She writes for the New Yorker and her obsession with excellent prose and factual detail shows. (In a book this length, there will be exceptions, and on page 674 she commits a howler: "By 2000, the number of foreign-born Americans had risen to 28 million, constituting 29 percent of the U.S. population." This implies a US population of <100 million at a time we know the US had 280+m residents. She meant about ten percent).

Lepore does not mask her politics. She writes with assurance about the tortured history of American racism and sexism without victimizing or sanctifying African Americans or women. Her final chapters reflect a merciless critic of modern NRA/pro-choice religious conservatism and a pen equally dismissive identity liberalism. She is utterly unsparing of her postmodern structuralist colleagues in the academy. She portrays Bill Clintons as a spoiled buffoon and Hillary as smart but politically clueless.

Lepore weaves several themes throughout. America was born to struggle with "These Truths" as described in the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence. What does "created equal" mean? What are our "inalienable rights"? How can we form a government that reflects "the consent of the governed"? These Truths are, at best, a work in progress -- but the work is noble and worthwhile. She writes as well of the history of single-volume histories of the United States -- acknowledging the shoulders on which her massive contribution stands. She tells the stories of immigrants, native peoples, slaves, and women not only from their perspective but from the perspective of those privileged to rule.

Order this book like you would order a fine meal. Savor each bite and treasure each course not only for the freshness but for the spices and the display. Because when your meal ends some 700 pages later, you will discover that you are not full. If you are like me, you will beg for more.

Final point: I read this in hardback but ordered the Kindle version to enable searches, bookmarks, and notes. I urge Amazon to give a Kindle copy of this or any other book to readers who purchase hardback copies. These are complementary, not rival goods. I am not getting more content, nor is a publisher incurring more cost, when I get the book in both analog and digital formats. There is a place for both, but no reason to charge us twice.

63 people found this helpful

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David Lindsay

A Social and Political History of the US

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2020

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These Truths is an entertaining single-volume overview of US history. It is primarily a national social and political history, concerned chiefly with what takes place inside U.S. borders. Jill Lepore briefly covers the major historical events—the Revolution, Civil War, world wars, Vietnam, 9/11, and the war on terror. She discusses issues like class, women, immigration, race, guns, abortion, and inequality. She is not really interested in war and military campaigns. Lepore covers the social impact of the Vietnam War because it split the nation. She barely mentions the Korean War which did not. Lepore is a Harvard professor and writes for the New Yorker. She can be funny and surprisingly bawdy. Her put-downs of the great and the good are enjoyable, especially her comments on Bill Clinton. The book was published in 2018 and is over 900 pages long.

There is a tendency in academia to be negative about the country's past. Americans used to unite around their history. Lepore believes that the U.S. has been a force for good in the world. No country is perfect and Lepore tends to be positive about the past. However, she cannot help pointing out the contradictions and hypocrisies in American history, especially concerning race and women. Our history is part mythology and Hollywood must share some of the blame. Donald Trump recently gave a speech where he praised Wyatt Earp and Davy Crockett. The real Earp was a shady character. He was a brothel owner and gambler, who was sometimes on the wrong side of the law. Lepore informs us that the brave men who died at the Alamo, like Davy Crockett, were fighting to preserve slavery in Texas. The Mexicans had banned slavery in 1829. As minorities become the majority there will be more reappraisals of early American history. This book only takes us part of the way.

Lepore starts with Christopher Columbus, but she focuses on the arrival of the first English settlers, who started importing slaves in 1619. American children are taught that the Puritans were escaping persecution and wanted to create "a city on a hill." A more realistic version of history is that the Puritans came to the New World to escape other people’s religious freedom. They wanted to be left alone with their strange beliefs. In Holland, there was too much religious tolerance for their liking. The Dutch welcomed Catholics and atheists. The New England Puritans were intolerant and banished others who did not conform to their values. They enslaved Indians and sold them to the Caribbean. They also imported slaves from Africa. The religious extremism of the Puritans is not remembered fondly in England where Puritanism originated.

In 1641, an 81-year-old Catholic priest was hung, drawn, and quartered by Puritans in London. Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan and he became a military dictator in the 1640s. Cromwell executed the king and believed the Pope was the anti-Christ. He practiced genocide in Ireland, closed the theatres, banned Christmas, and insisted that women should dress modestly. The English people were happy when he died in 1658 and Parliament invited King Charles II to return from exile in 1660. The experiment with Puritanism ended. Charles II enhanced the protection for religious dissenters in the British colonies, the Puritans were told to play nicely with other religious denominations.

Lepore claims that the French and Indian War was a British affair and the Americans were innocent bystanders who had been told they would not have to pay for the war. In his book, ‘Dangerous Nation’ author Robert Kagan disputes this interpretation. The colonists wanted the British to kick the French out of North America and crush the Indians. Once the French were gone the British were less useful. Lepore is a big fan of Ben Franklin and even wrote a biography of his sister, but the saintly Ben was guilty of duplicity. Kagan claims that Franklin was campaigning in London for a war with France in the 1750s. In the 1760s he claimed that the war had nothing to do with the American colonists and they should not have to pay. Franklin’s biographer agrees with Kagan and admits that Ben “falsified history.” Kagan believes that Franklin set the tone for future American hypocrisy and claims of innocence when confronted with accusations of duplicity. Franklin’s plan was to push both France and Britain out of North America so that there was nothing to stop the expansion westwards. The U.S. had its manifest destiny to fulfill.

The Founding Fathers were until recently depicted as infallible demi-gods whose words were treated like Holy Writ. Jefferson envisaged America becoming the world's great "Empire of Liberty." Lepore portrays some of the Founders as flawed hypocrites, who spoke of liberty but ignored the rights of slaves and women. Jefferson was in his forties when he fathered his first child with the 16-year-old slave Sally Hemmings. Lepore quotes Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. In Marshall’s opinion, the Founding Fathers weren’t all that astute, and neither was the Constitution they penned in 1787. Marshall believed their original intent was to favor a government that advanced slavery and prevented blacks and women from exercising the right to vote. The Constitution was thus “defective from the start,” he said, “requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today.”

America has often been a force for good in the world. The U.S. fought a bloody civil war to end slavery. The U.S. has given the West peace and stability since 1945. Professor Adam Tooze at Columbia believes that America’s isolation and disengagement from global affairs after WW1 resulted in the world becoming a more dangerous place. He argues that because the U.S. declined to participate in collective security arrangements in Europe, a power vacuum was created and this helped fuel the rise of fascism, communism, and ethnic conflict. After World War 2, the U.S. deserved enormous credit for helping to rebuild Europe and Japan and establishing and maintaining liberal democracy in the West.

There is a belief in Washington that if America is not running the world the jungle would grow back and bad people would take over just like the 1930s. The foreign policy establishment believes that whatever the U.S. does is always for the best because Americans are basically good. Introducing democracy and Western culture is viewed as a good thing. However, we have seen in Vietnam and the Middle East that our values are not always welcome. Tom Holland in his book ‘Dominion’ argues that our values are basically Christian. We believe them to be universal values. Holland claims that human rights are a Christian concept, and he’s an atheist.

Lepore is better and funnier reviewing the recent past. Lepore seems to be a New Deal Democrat and prefers to write about inequality, women’s rights, and race. She is disparaging about American leadership since the 1960s. Bill Clinton is depicted as a needy, sex-crazed sell-out. She criticizes both parties for ignoring the needs of the working class, whose living standards have declined since the 1970s. She is critical of Bush’s regime change wars and his use of torture. She is no fan of Obama’s presidency. She believes the Supreme Court has shown partisan bias. She wants more gun control and explains how the Constitution has been reinterpreted by the NRA and its followers. A recent poll showed that the American people believe that a corrupt political class is the biggest problem facing the country. A recent poll showed that only 13% of Americans believe the country is on the right track. Lepore leaves you with the impression that she might agree with those sentiments.

The U.S. has dominated the world economically, militarily, and culturally for decades. It has been able to attract immigrants from all over the world. Lepore ends on a note of optimism. She believes that “The United States, is a nation founded on a deeply moral commitment to human dignity” and to the proposition that “all of us are equal.” However, she also writes that George Washington attended the Constitutional Convention wearing “dentures made from ivory and from nine teeth pulled from the mouths of his slaves.”

46 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Important survey of US history

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024

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Well written account of the history of the US. Take the time to read this from cover to cover. I think you will find it worth the effort.

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Jack Thompson

Jill lepore rocks it

Reviewed in Canada on November 2, 2023

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Very accurate telling if a history many have not heard before

Daniel James Fogarty

An eminently readable American history

Reviewed in Brazil on October 24, 2023

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This is the first thing I've read of Jill Lepore, apart from an article in the New Yorker. I can't wait to read more from her. In this book, history becomes narrative, never bogged down in unneeded density. Those people who were there come alive on the page, and the themes of each period are plain to see.

Client d'Amazon

Une superbe Histoire pas comme les autres de la dévastation du nouveau monde. Bravo Ms Lepore.

Reviewed in France on September 6, 2021

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J'aime lire l'histoire pour comprendre où nous allons, et à quel prix.

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M Clark

The truths listed in the Declaration of Independence

Reviewed in Germany on March 14, 2021

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"TheseTruths" looks at the truths listed in the Declaration of Independence and how truthful they have been seen by Americans throughout US history. As such, the book is more of an extended essay than a pure history of the US.

One person found this helpful

markb

Thought provoking reflection on America's founding truths

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2021

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This book is far from a standard political, social and economic history of the USA. Instead it is a considered in-depth reflection on how the founding principles of the American constitution have developed since the United States came into being 250 years ago. In parallel, Lepore describes how mass communication has evolved to inform, or to distort, U.S. politics.

She points out the irony of how a nation founded on a constitutional commitment to equality was in fact built on inequality. A constitution tolerating slavery accepted black people were property and would only count as three fifths of a person. From the outset then slavery represented a betrayal of America's founding ideals. Civil War and the abolition of slavery could not just simply dispel racism from American life. The now highly polarised American party system evolved in a context of how debates about how human rights and dignity were to be understood and put into practice. The book ends somewhere around Trump's mid-term. The now President Biden has a walk on part as a hardbitten senator.

Lepore also charts how American newspapers, opinion polls, broadcasting and social media have evolved. In her view, the mass media has grown by firing politics to become evermore combative and partisan. The result has been a compromised US political culture resting on parties shouting the opposition down, rather than on working towards reaching an understanding of a common good.

This book helps us understand the persistence of racial conflict, white supremacy and injustice in the USA up to the present day. It offers an historically informed perspective, directly linking the nation's founding fathers with twentieth century Civil Rights campaigns and with today's Black Lives Matter movement.

It helps readers, especially those like me from the other side of the pond, understand how America's constitution remains a work in progress. The founding truths of the USA - equality, freedom and democracy - will always be fought over.

Whilst this is a lengthy detailed book, it is well worth persisting. I certainly feel reading Lepore's work has helped me to a greater appreciation of the lifeblood and pulse of American culture and politics.

3 people found this helpful

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