Description
Book SynopsisA fresh, original history of America's national narratives, told through the loss, recovery, and rise of one influential Puritan sermon from 1630 to the present day
Trade Review“Van Engen is an elegant, accessible writer, and this is a truly illuminating study of America.”—Ron Charles,
Washington Post“Engaging and substantive.”—Barton Swaim,
Wall Street Journal“An elegant piece of historical detective work . . .
City on a Hill grasps a phrase you may think you understand—and then it turns that phrase to open the door to a huge room of rediscovered knowledge. . . . [A] wonderful archaeology of an American idea.”—David Frum,
The AtlanticWinner of the 2021 Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize, awarded by the Massachusetts Historical Society: “A major contribution to the historical scholarship on Puritanism and American exceptionalism. . . . Truly an influential book.”
Winner of the 2022 Pelikan Award, a biannual prize given by an independent committee of Yale faculty, sponsored by Yale University Press
“This deeply researched and startling study of national myth is a revelation. Van Engen takes us on an extraordinary intellectual journey through the idea of exceptionalism. Here, good history punctures our hardened assumptions with evidence, even as it allows for myth’s powers over our imaginations.”—David W. Blight, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom“Fluidly written, deeply and widely researched, persuasively argued, scintillating, and stunningly effective. . . . A landmark contribution.”—Mark Noll, author of
In the Beginning Was the Word“Van Engen uncovers the story of the most revered sermon in the American saga, tracing its shadowy origin to the bully pulpit centuries later as a motto for national exceptionalism. A trifecta of scholarship, narrative history, and a timely contribution to debates over our role in the world.”—Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution
“Abram Van Engen has written a brilliant cultural history of how the meaning of America has been defined, over time, by appeals to the Puritans’ grand vision of a ‘city on a hill.’ This story, with its many twists and turns, illuminates the power and the contradictions of these myths of American exceptionalism. The chapters on the influence of Perry Miller are truly exceptional.”—Nathan Hatch, president of Wake Forest University
“Abram Van Engen blends deep research in rare primary sources with a gripping story that runs from the 1620s to the present. Drawing on history, religion, and literature, he makes a persuasive argument in page-turning prose about the mythic roots of American exceptionalism. This should be a prize-winning book.”—Grant Wacker, author of
One Soul at a Time: The Story of Billy Graham
