The award-winning author of Founding Brothers as well as the Quartet now gives us a deeply insightful study of the relevance from the views of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams for some of the most divisive issues in America today.

The story of history is a ceaseless conversation between past and present, and in American Dialogue Joseph J. Ellis concentrates the conversation over the often-asked issue ‘What would the Founding Fathers think? about American Dialogue: The Founders and Us ‘ He examines four of our most seminal traditional statistics through the prism of particular topics, using the perspective of the present to shed light on their views and, in turn, to make apparent how their now centuries-old tips illuminate the disturbing impasse of today’s politics conflicts. He discusses Jefferson and the issue of racism, Adams as well as the specter of economic inequality, Washington and American imperialism, Madison and the doctrine of unique purpose. Through these juxtapositions–and in his hallmark dramatic and compelling narrative voice–Ellis illuminates the obstructions and pitfalls paralyzing contemporary discussions of the fundamentally important issues.

Cover image: 3 Flags, 1958 by Jasper Johns. Encaustic on canvas (three sections) © Jasper Johns/Certified by VAGA, New York, NY; Printing: Whitney Museum of American Artwork, New York, USA/Bridgeman Images