Eric Karns

I’m finally wrapping up Paul Johnson’s 976 page epic survey ‘A History of the American People’ which is probably the best overview of American history I have ever read. Paul Johnson is a British author whose insight and interpretation of American history is extremely fascinating, genuinely positive in tone and fluidly written.

I had originally picked up this book so that I could better understand why our country has evolved into such political catastrophe. Although there isn’t a single answer to that question, the one thing I have gleaned from our history is that we became great because of our resources, ingenuity, work ethic, positive outlook and most importantly our early system of light-handed governing. It seems to me that since F.D.R.’s reign, American governance has fallen steeply into an ugly, over-meddling and arrogant system.

Sadly, Americans today have a short perspective on our own history and so our society continues to devolve. We need to know where we came from and how we got here if we ever want to fix our country.