Can our American experiment in ordered liberty survive our current afflictions of vanishing social trust and escalating political rancor? Author David Blankenhorn worries that it cannot and believes that our great task is to see that it does. Blankenhorn is a career civic organizer, Lincoln scholar, and co-founder of Braver Angels — a grassroots movement to restore civic trust in the USA. In the book’s introduction, Blankenhorn writes: “Every page of this book – whether on how liberals and conservatives talk past each other, how convenience stores and road signs reveal us, or the roots of social conflict – is devoted to answering this question and depicting this task. The person haunting this book is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was president during the most horrible moments of mistrust and rancor in American history. He was an imperfect man, and he and his generation failed to prevent disunion and civil war. But for me, Lincoln’s successes and failures, and most of all his temperament, are inexhaustible opportunities for learning, even more so as we Americans today face our own time of testing. He was my constant companion in writing this book.”