The Ground We Stand on (Large print ed)

As John Dos Passos remarked in the opening chapter of The Ground We Stand On, "In easy time history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.

We need to know what kind of firm ground other men, belonging to generations before us, have found to stand on".

In this body of compelling essays, Dos Passos traces the antecedents and the rise of America's early political structure, the variety of influences upon it, and the men who gave it a stable foundation.

He was intent on justice, not on political affiliation.

Dos Passos always referred to himself as a "chronicler" of American life, and his turn to outright history late in his career substantiates that definition.