Bookshelf

| browse books |
books
 

| book details |

The Story of America: Essays on Origins

By (author) Jill Lepore

| on special |

normal price: R 521.95

Price: R 468.95


| book description |

From Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jill Lepore, a history of American origin stories In The Story of America, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore investigates American origin stories—from John Smith's account of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address—to show how American democracy is bound up with the history of print. Over the centuries, Americans have read and written their way into a political culture of ink and type. Part civics primer, part cultural history, The Story of America excavates the origins of everything from the paper ballot and the Constitution to the I.O.U. and the dictionary. Along the way it presents fresh readings of Benjamin Franklin's Way to Wealth, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, ""The Raven"" by Edgar Allan Poe, and ""Paul Revere's Ride"" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as histories of lesser-known genres, including biographies of presidents, novels of immigrants, and accounts of the Depression. From past to present, Lepore argues, Americans have wrestled with the idea of democracy by telling stories. In this thoughtful and provocative book, Lepore offers at once a history of origin stories and a meditation on storytelling itself.

| product details |



Normally shipped | Forthcoming. We are not accepting backorders for this item yet
Publisher | Princeton University Press
Published date | 15 Sep 2026
Language |
Format | Paperback / softback
Pages | 432
Dimensions | 203 x 133 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 0g
ISBN | 978-0-6912-9371-4
Readership Age |
BISAC | history / united states / general


| other options |



Normally shipped | Forthcoming. Coming into print soon, we are accepting back orders for this item
Readership Age |
Normal Price | R 632.95
Price | R 568.95 | on special |



| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

Broken Country: AMAZON'S BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER

Clare Leslie Hall
Paperback / softback
320 pages


Enquiries only

An epic love story with the pulse of a thriller that asks: what would you risk for a second chance at first love?

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt
Paperback / softback
384 pages
was: R 522.95
now: R 469.95
Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 14 days


The Correspondent

Virginia Evans
Hardback
288 pages
was: R 450.95
now: R 405.95
Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 3 to 6 weeks


Dungeon Crawler Carl

Matt Dinniman
Paperback / softback
480 pages
was: R 522.95
now: R 459.95
Available from overseas. Usually dispatched in 14 days