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A celebration of America and the music that inspired people and illuminated eras, from the Revolutionary War to the present, by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham and Grammy winner Tim McGraw. From "The Star Spangled Banner" to "Born in the U.S.A.," Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw take us on a journey through the eras and the music that helped to shape a nation. Meacham writes a celebration of the history and songs of the eras, and McGraw reflects on these songs as an artist and performer. Beginning with the battle hymns of the Revolution, and taking us through songs from the defining events of the Civil War, the two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, into the twenty-first century, Meacham and McGraw explore the songs that defined generations and the cultural and political climates that made them. The songs of America remind us where we've been, who we are - and what we can be.Advance praise for Songs of America"The civil-rights movement couldn't have happened without its music, and Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw have written a wonderful and moving account of how the sounds of America helped lead us toward what Dr. King called 'the Beloved Community.' This book brings it all back for me - the struggles and the triumphs, the tough days and the transcendent ones." - John Lewis "From hymns that swelled the hearts of revolutionaries to the spirituals that stirred citizens to spill blood for a more perfect Union and the blues and country-infused beats that aroused change in the 1960s, Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw form an irresistible duo - connecting us to music as an unsung force in our nation's history. Songs of America is not just a cultural journey - it strikes our deepest chords as Americans: patriotism, protest, possibility, creativity, and, at the root of it all, freedom of expression enshrined in our founding document." - Doris Kearns Goodwin "From the songs of the enslaved to the sounds of the civil-rights movement, from 'The Star-Spangled Banner' to Springsteen's 'The Rising' after 9/11, Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw have convened a concert in Songs of America. It is a glorious celebration of our diversity - and of the strength that comes from the myriad voices of all races that make us who we are." - Quincy Jones