On Democracy

A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title

A collection of essays, letters and poems from E.B. White, €œone of the country€s great literary treasures€ (New York Times), centered on the subject of freedom and democracy in America.

€œI am a member of a party of one, and I live in an age of fear.€

These words were written by E. B. White in 1947.

Decades before our current political turmoil, White crafted eloquent yet practical political statements that continue to resonate. €œThere€s only one kind of press that€s any good€"€ he proclaimed, €œa press free from any taint of the government.€ He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing that €œin doubtful, doubting days, national morality tends to slip and slide toward a condition in which the test of a man€s honor is his zeal for discovering dishonor in others.€ And on the spread of fascism he lamented, €œfascism enjoys at the moment an almost perfect climate for growth€"a world of fear and hunger.€

Anchored by an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, this concise collection of essays, letters, and poems from one of this country€s most eminent literary voices offers much-needed historical context for our current state of the nation€"and hope for the future of our society. Speaking to Americans at a time of uncertainty, when democracy itself has come under threat, he reminds us, €œAs long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman . . . the scene is not desolate.€