On Democracy

"I 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. "There's only one kind of press that's any good--" he proclaimed, "a press free from any taint of government control." He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing, "In 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 another." And on his staunch opposition to tyranny he maintained, "If it is boyish to believe that a human being should live free, then I'll gladly arrest my development and let the rest of the world grow up."

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, "As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman . . . the scene is not desolate."