Books by Maurice York

The story of the founding of the United States is one of heroism and daring mixed with defiance and insurrection; nobility and high idealism countered by cunning and betrayal; compassion and self-sacrifice intertwined with conquest and greed. It is a narrative not simply of the great tide of events that effected the unlikely defeat of a mighty empire by its own colonies, but of the character of the men and women who rejected kingship in favor of democratic governance dedicated to the rights of mankind and the principles of liberty, justice, and peace. In the pursuit of these ideals, the Founders envisioned themselves guided and protected by an inspiring spirit that bound them together and gave their individual struggles and ordeals a common purpose. In the very act of forging a new nation and setting forth their thoughts in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the Founders saw themselves building a home, a permanent dwelling place for this spirit--a Temple of Liberty. The story of how this Temple was built and its meaning for the people of the nation is embedded in hundreds of works of poetry, art, architecture, sculpture, and song from the first century of the nation's history. In this compelling study of the Revolution, Spaulding and York draw out this often forgotten dimension of the Founding of America, indicating a basis for a renewed understanding of the intentions of the Founders and their extraordinary significance for our own times.

Emerson once wrote that the times we are born in are the best of times, if only we know what to do with them. His life spanned the crucial years of the nation's youth-the first tests of its shop-new Constitution; the explosive expansion into the untamed West; the great conflagration of the Civil War and the destruction of slavery; and the pains of rebirth and reconciliation that carried the United States to the eve of emerging as a world power. In the midst of this swirl of upheaval and change, Emerson turned his attention inward to the citizen, the individual, who must find his or her own inmost truth and bring that one fact of being to perfect expression in the world-must learn to believe the faintest presentiment of the self against the testimony of all history. As a lecturer and essayist, Emerson was a catalyst who sought through his daily work to wake the long-slumbering soul of the farmer, mechanic, businessman, politician-to show the common person that the divine and extraordinary are present in every hour of the day. His efforts triggered a cultural tidal wave, inspiring a generation of authors, poets, teachers, and social activists who built the very foundations of culture in America. This biography takes a fresh look at Emerson through his Journals to trace the story of his own self-development, and the hidden life's work that makes him as relevant to our time as to his own.