On Democracy

A New York Times Book Review New & Noteworthy Title "For democracys weary champions, Whites time-tested prose is a shot of adrenaline" (Madeleine Albright). 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. Theres only one kind of press thats any good he proclaimed, a press free from any taint of the government. He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing that in doubtful, doubting days, national morality tends to slip and slide toward a condition in which the test of a mans honor is his zeal for discovering dishonor in others. And on the spread of fascism he lamented, fascism enjoys at the moment an almost perfect climate for growtha 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 countrys most eminent literary voices offers much-needed historical context for our current state of the nationand 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.