{"product_id":"first-principles-what-americas-founders-learned-from-the-greeks-and-romans-and-how-that-shaped-our-country-9780062997463","title":"First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\"Ricks knocks it out of the park with this jewel of a book. On every page, I learned something new. Read it every night if you want to restore your faith in our country.\" — James Mattis, General, U.S. Marines (ret.) \u0026amp; 26\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e Secretary of Defense \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eNow in paperback, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and #1\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a revelatory new book about the founding fathers, examining their educations and, in particular, their devotion to the ancient Greek and Roman classics—and how that influence would shape their ideals and the new American nation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the morning after the 2016 presidential election, Thomas Ricks awoke with a few questions on his mind: What kind of nation did we now have? Is it what was designed or intended by the nation’s founders? Trying to get as close to the source as he could, Ricks decided to go back and read the philosophy and literature that shaped the founders’ thinking, and the letters they wrote to each other debating these crucial works—among them the Iliad, Plutarch’s Lives, and the works of Xenophon, Epicurus, Aristotle, Cato, and Cicero. For though much attention has been paid the influence of English political philosophers, like John Locke, closer to their own era, the founders were far more immersed in the literature of the ancient world.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first four American presidents came to their classical knowledge differently. Washington absorbed it mainly from the elite culture of his day; Adams from the laws and rhetoric of Rome; Jefferson immersed himself in classical philosophy, especially Epicureanism; and Madison, both a groundbreaking researcher and a deft politician, spent years studying the ancient world like a political scientist. Each of their experiences, and distinctive learning, played an essential role in the formation of the United States. In examining how and what they studied, looking at them in the unusual light of the classical world, Ricks is able to draw arresting and fresh portraits of men we thought we knew.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eFirst Principles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e follows these four members of the Revolutionary generation from their youths to their adult lives, as they grappled with questions of independence, and forming and keeping a new nation. In doing so, Ricks interprets not only the effect of the ancient world on each man, and how that shaped our constitution and government, but offers startling new insights into these legendary leaders.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Thomas E. Ricks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/09\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.68lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.06h x 5.48w x 0.96d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062997463\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRicks, Thomas E.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e -\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e from 2000 through 2008 and was on the staff of the \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal \u003c\/em\u003efor seventeen years before that. He reported on American military operations in Somalia, Haiti, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iraq. A member of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, he is also the author of several books, including \u003cem\u003eThe Generals, The Gamble\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e Churchill \u0026amp; Orwell\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003ethe number-one \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller \u003cem\u003eFiasco\u003c\/em\u003e, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He wrote \u003cem\u003eFirst Principles\u003c\/em\u003e while a visiting fellow in history at Bowdoin College.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":39821899759731,"sku":"9780062997463","price":20.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_f98f4fd3-c579-4add-9a87-3a23cb9aa058.jpg?v=1644517122","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/first-principles-what-americas-founders-learned-from-the-greeks-and-romans-and-how-that-shaped-our-country-9780062997463","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}