America’s Prophet

How the Story of Moses Shaped America

Bruce Feiler

400 Pages

On-Sale Date: 21/09/2010

ISBN: 9780061726279

Trim Size: 5.250in x 8.000in x 1.200in

$22.99

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Bruce Feiler’s New York Times bestsellers Abraham, Walking the Bible, and Where God Was Born brilliantly explored the roots of faith. With America’s Prophet, Feiler looks at Moses and the essential role the prophet has played in our nation’s history and development. Bruce Feiler’s most fascinating and thought-provoking book to date, America’s Prophet delves deeply into how the Exodus story and America’s true “Spiritual Founding Father” have inspired many of the most important figures and defining events in this country’s history—from the Mayflower Pilgrims to the Civil Rights movement—and how Moses can provide meaning in times of national crisis, even today.

What makes this three-thousand-year-old biblical narrative the surprising symbol of the American story?

  • America’s Founding Father: Discover why figures from the Mayflower Pilgrims to Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson saw their own struggles in the story of Moses and the Exodus.
  • A Narrative of Hope: Trace the surprising thread of this story through the nation’s defining moments, from the Revolution and the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement.
  • Freedom and Law: Explore the profound tension at the heart of the American experiment, examining how the Liberty Bell’s inscription echoes the balance between liberation and covenant.
  • A Unifying Figure: Uncover how leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., turned to Moses in times of crisis to provide inspiration and a path toward the Promised Land.

Bruce Feiler is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including Abraham, Where God Was Born, America's Prophet, The Council of Dads, and The Secrets of Happy Families. He is a columnist for the New York Times, a popular lecturer, and a frequent commentator on radio and television. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and twin daughters.

“This is one of the most original, intelligent and endlessly fascinating books I have read in years: it should become a set book for anyone wanting to know what truly makes America tick.” — Simon Winchester

“With a journalist eye and an adventurers spirit, Bruce Feiler brings his prodigious gifts of biblical analysis to a reconsideration of Moses as the essential prophet of the American Experience. This is an accessible and engaging book of indispensible insight.” — Tony Horwitz

“What a smart, original, and deeply intriguing reflection on the role Moses played – yes, Moses – in U.S. history. America’s Prophet is Bruce Feiler at his innovative best: compelling, sweeping and engaging. Highly recommended!” — Douglas Brinkley

“Fascinating and thought provoking.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Astunning collective portrait of an ingrown community with its own history, hierarchy, and traditions.” — The New Yorker on Under the Big Top

“Penetrating and insightful. . . . Bruce Feiler’s Dreaming Out Loud details the ins and outs of Nashville.” — New York Times on Dreaming Out Loud