America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story Review
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I was delighted that a book I learned about from Diane Rehm’s interview December 22, 2009 with Bruce Feiler, is such an extraordinary read.
Well organized, so that each chapter could stand on its, with a personal narrative woven throughout, Feiler draws the major American cultural and historical events connected to Moses — in Egypt, at Pesach, around the Golden Calf, and at Mt. Nebo. Particularly challenging to some will be the reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps because we are still so close to him so that living witnesses abound, and perhaps because, as Feiler notes, there is a considerable cultural mythologizing practice going on around the memory and meaning of MLK. For most of his other material, there is enough historical distance so that even those who disagree with his interpretations can, nonetheless, read, ponder, and go away being little disturbed.
He draws the Puritans close and the Beecher family even closer. He reenacts the midnight winter passage across the Ohio River and tries to live into the contemporary meaning-making around the Underground Railroad. There are, of course, many other cultural connections and claims made upon Moses; but Feiler beautifully focuses his lens on a handful of significant periods and events in American history.
I’ll probably preach and teach from insights and facts crammed into this book for the next twenty years. I highly recommend this book for reflective reading, for group study, and for consideration in your family’s or community’s next iteration of the haggadah.
America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story Feature
- ISBN13: 9780061712609
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story Overview
The exodus story is America’s story.
Moses is our real founding father.
In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler travels through touchstones in American history and traces the biblical prophet’s influence from the Mayflower through today. Feiler visits the island where the pilgrims spent their first Sabbath, climbs the bell tower where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses, retraces the Underground Railroad where “Go Down, Moses” was the national anthem of slaves, and dons the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments.
One part adventure story, one part literary detective story, one part exploration of faith in contemporary life, America’s Prophet takes readers from Gettysburg to Selma, the Silver Screen to the Oval Office, to understand how Moses shaped the nation’s character. America’s Prophet is a thrilling original work of history that will forever change how we view America, our faith and our future.
America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story Specifications
Book Description
The exodus story is America’s story. Moses is our real founding father.
The pilgrims quoted his story. Franklin and Jefferson proposed he appear on the U.S. seal. Washington and Lincoln were called his incarnations. The Statue of Liberty and Superman were molded in his image. Martin Luther King, Jr., invoked him the night before he died. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama cited him as inspiration. For four hundred years, one figure inspired more Americans than any other. His name is Moses.
In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler travels through touchstones in American history and traces the biblical prophet’s influence from the Mayflower through today. He visits the island where the pilgrims spent their first Sabbath, climbs the bell tower where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses, retraces the Underground Railroad where “Go Down, Moses” was the national anthem of slaves, and dons the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments.
“Even a cursory review of American history indicates that Moses has emboldened leaders of all stripes,” Feiler writes, “patriot and loyalist, slave and master, Jew and Christian. Could the persistence of his story serve as a reminder of our shared national values? Could he serve as a unifying force in a disunifying time? If Moses could split the Red Sea, could he unsplit America?”
One part adventure story, one part literary detective story, one part exploration of faith in contemporary life, America’s Prophet takes readers through the landmarks of America’s narrative—from Gettysburg to Selma, the Silver Screen to the Oval Office—to understand how Moses has shaped the nation’s character.
Meticulously researched and highly readable, America’s Prophet is a thrilling, original work of history that will forever change how we view America, our faith, and our future.
Photographs from America’s Prophet
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The Hebrew Letter “Bet”
“In every generation one should regard oneself as though he had come out of Egypt.” The large letter “bet” contains the word “bad” and images of ancient Egypt at top and Nazi concentration camps at bottom. Drawing by Yosef Dov Sheinson from A Survivors’ Haggadah. (Courtesy of The Jewish Publication Society) |
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., in a never-before-published photograph, delivering his sermon “The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore” at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York, May 17, 1956, during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (Courtesy of the Archives of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine) |
Liberty Enlightening the World
With ships and New York Harbor in the background. Lithograph published by Currier & Ives, c. 1886. (Courtesy of The Library of Congress) |
The Great Seal of the United States
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson’s proposal for the Great Seal of the United States, as drawn by Benson J. Lossing for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, July 1856. (Courtesy of The Library of Congress) |
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