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Tocqueville: Democracy in America

In Our Time

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The Greatest Book Ever Written About the United States

In 1835, immediate acclaim, this was, by general agreement, the best book that had ever been written about the United States. At the time, people said, yes, this is a great book, but he did get certain things wrong. Just on the Native Americans, because he did actually see one tribe being forcibly moved, which was a horrid sight for him. Likewise, this stuff about America has been Philistines, no great literature, precisely the point where America is producing great literature so he gets that wrong as well.

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