Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America

4.3/5 ( ratings)

From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump's border wall.

Ever since this nation's inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States' belief in itself as an exceptional nation--democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America has a new symbol: the border wall.

In The End of the Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history--from the American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America's constant expansion--fighting wars and opening markets--served as a "gate of escape," helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country's problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home.

It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.

Language: English

Pages: 369

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Release: March 05, 2019

ISBN: 1250179823

ISBN 13: 9781250179821

The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America

4.3/5 ( ratings)

From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump's border wall.

Ever since this nation's inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States' belief in itself as an exceptional nation--democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America has a new symbol: the border wall.

In The End of the Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history--from the American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America's constant expansion--fighting wars and opening markets--served as a "gate of escape," helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country's problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home.

It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.

Language: English

Pages: 369

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Release: March 05, 2019

ISBN: 1250179823

ISBN 13: 9781250179821

More books from Greg Grandin

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism

The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman

I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

3.8/5 ( ratings)

The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War

3.8/5 ( ratings)

The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation

3.8/5 ( ratings)

A Century of Revolution: Insurgent and Counterinsurgent Violence during Latin America's Long Cold War

3.8/5 ( ratings)

The Guatemala Reader: History, Culture, Politics

4.3/5 ( ratings)

Who Is Rigoberta Menchu?

3.1/5 ( ratings)

FREE Icon Books eBook Sampler

2.7/5 ( ratings)

Rate this book!

Write a review?