"A stupendous compilation of the best things said by and to Americans . . . [I] open it every night at random and always find something valuable." —Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

"Indispensable . . . Should become The Book of Virtues for patriots." —Mona Charen, nationally syndicated columnist

Concerned about rising cynicism and apathy, more and more Americans lament the decline in patriotic feeling and civic engagement. Fortunately, this wonderfully rich anthology is here to help all Americans realize more deeply—and appreciate more fully—who they are as citizens of the United States.At once inspiring and thought provoking, What So Proudly We Hail explores American identity, character, and civic life using the soul-shaping power of story, speech, and song. Editors Amy Kass, Leon Kass, and Diana Schaub—acclaimed scholars who among them have more than a century of teaching experience—have assembled dozens of selections by our country's greatest writers and leaders, from Mark Twain to John Updike, from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt, from Willa Cather to Flannery O'Connor, from Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from Francis Scott Key to Irving Berlin.Featuring the editors' insightful and instructive commentary, What So Proudly We Hail illuminates our national identity, the American creed, the American character, and the virtues and aspirations of active citizenship. This marvelous book will spark much-needed discussion and reflection in living rooms, classrooms, and reading groups everywhere.

Amy A. Kass, long-celebrated teacher of classic texts at the University of Chicago and senior fellow at Hudson Institute, has edited several anthologies, including The Perfect Gift: The Philanthropic Imagination in Poetry and Prose and (with Leon R. Kass) Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying.

Leon R. Kass, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of The Beginning of Wisdom, The Hungry Soul, and Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity. Dr. Kass has delivered the Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Diana Schaub is professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland and a member of the Hoover Institution’s Task Force on the Virtues of a Free Society. She is contributing editor to the New Atlantis.