On Democracy -- E. B. White

<p><strong>A <em>New York Times Book Review</em> New & Noteworthy Title</strong></p><p><strong>For democracy's weary champions, White's time-tested prose is a shot of adrenaline (Madeleine Albright).</strong></p><p><em>"I am a member of a party of one, and I live in an age of fear."</em></p><p>These words were written by E. B. White in 1947.</p><p>Decades before our current political turmoil, White crafted eloquent yet practical political statements that continue to resonate. "There's only one kind of press that's any good--" he proclaimed, "a press free from any taint of the government." He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing that "in doubtful, doubting days, national morality tends to slip and slide toward a condition in which the test of a man's honor is his zeal for discovering dishonor in others." And on the spread of fascism he lamented, "fascism enjoys at the moment an almost perfect climate for growth--a world of fear and hunger."</p><p>Anchored by an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, this concise collection of essays, letters, and poems from one of this country's most eminent literary voices offers much-needed historical context for our current state of the nation--and hope for the future of our society. Speaking to Americans at a time of uncertainty, when democracy itself has come under threat, he reminds us, "As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman . . . the scene is not desolate."</p><br>