Book excerpt: Neil Baldwin, one of the most exciting intellectual historians, has written extensively about the great thinkers and innovators who have shaped our unique American identity. In THE AMERICAN REVELATION, he turns his energies to the unfolding story of how the American spirit developed over 400 years. This inspiring examination of the ideals that have grown to inform our national identity and of the figures who set the course for our evolving self image covers: City on a Hill--John Winthrop--1630 Common Sense--Thomas Paine--1776 E pluribus unum--Pierre-Eugene Du Simitiere--1776 Self Reliance--Ralph Waldo Emerson--1841 Manifest Destiny--John L. O'Sullivan--1845 Progress and Poverty--Henry George--1879 The Sphere of Action--Jane Addams--1902 The Melting Pot--Israel Zangwill--1908 The Negro in Our History--Carter Woodson--1922 The Marshall Plan--George C. Marshall--1947 Neil Baldwin writes of figures both familiar and forgotten in this work of popular history that seeks to illuminate and enliven the current debate about American's role in the world. Meticulously researched and entertainingly written, THE AMERICAN REVELATION will make all U.S. readers, regardless of their politics, be proud of our country's intellectual heritage and high-minded values and will reassert those ideals to the rest of the world.