The Strength of a People

“This excellent book is illuminating and provocative; it is timely as well. . . . Readers who turn to this book . . . may be assured of acquiring a solid grounding in the origins and complexities of the idea of an informed citizenry.”—American Historical Review

“A rich exploration of the connections among ideas of education, citizenship, and political participation in American thought. . . . Will be of great usefulness not only to historians interested in the tensions over democratization in the early American republic but also to those interested in the roots of problems of democracy we still face.”—Journal of the Early Republic

“An important and timely book.”—Journal of American History

“In this rich, wonderfully informative study, Richard Brown traces the emergence and transformation of the idea of an informed citizenry in America.”—History of Education Quarterly

“An important book in the ever-growing fields of book history, printing, and literacy; highly recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.”—Library Journal

“A superb intellectual history of a subject that, unlike the principle of freedom of the press, has never been explored in a thoroughgoing and systematic way.”—College and Research Libraries

“Brown’s analysis serves both as an insightful monograph and an important historiographical threshold in American political history.”—History: Reviews of New Books

“I have read [the book] with both pleasure and admiration. It is a fine piece of work, very provocative.”—David McCullough

“This is an important work of broad interest to political and intellectual historians as well as to anyone concerned about the perceived current 'crisis' of an informed citizenry.”—James H. Kettner, University of California, Berkeley