Book discussion of ‘Born Equal’ by Akhil Reed Amar April 29

The Book Nook and Fletcher Memorial Library invite all readers to join the lively nonfiction book club for a discussion of Born Equal – Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920 by Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar. The round-table discussion will take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29 at the library, 88 Main St. in Ludlow.

Amar continues his legal and political history of the United States by focusing on the time leading up to the Civil War and its aftermath. Its narrative includes great American leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Abraham Lincoln.

Jeff Shesol, in The New York Times, describes the strengths of the book in the following paragraph: “Amar’s treatment of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, among other episodes, showcases his expertise. Rather than simply recount the back and forth, he uses it as a prompt to consider 10 interpretations of “created equal” — from the narrowest, which holds that the phrase was just misleading rhetoric, to the most expansive, that government has a duty to provide ‘a fair chance’ to all, as Lincoln later put it. Amar is similarly effective in showing how the 1848 Seneca Falls declaration responded to the Declaration of Independence.”

The book can be purchased at a 15% discount at The Book Nook, 3 Lamere Square in Ludlow, or borrowed from the library.

Call 802-228-3238 to RSVP or send an e-mail to scott@thebooknookvt.com.