鈥淔or we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill,鈥� John Winthrop warned his fellow Puritans at New England鈥檚 founding in 1630. More than three centuries later, Ronald Reagan remade that passage into a timeless celebration of American promise. How were Winthrop鈥檚 long-forgotten words reinvented as a central statement of American identity and exceptionalism? In As a City on a Hill, leading American intellectual historian Daniel Rodgers tells the surprising story of one of the most celebrated documents in the canon of the American idea. In doing so, he brings to life the ideas Winthrop鈥檚 text carried in its own time and the sharply different yearnings that have been attributed to it since.
As a City on a Hill shows how much more malleable, more saturated with vulnerability, and less distinctly American Winthrop鈥檚 鈥淢odel of Christian Charity鈥� was than the document that twentieth-century Americans invented. Across almost four centuries, Rodgers traces striking shifts in the meaning of Winthrop鈥檚 words鈥攆rom Winthrop鈥檚 own anxious reckoning with the scrutiny of the world, through Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 haunting reference to this 鈥渁lmost chosen people,鈥� to the 鈥渃ity on a hill鈥� that African Americans hoped to construct in Liberia, to the era of Donald Trump.
As a City on a Hill reveals the circuitous, unexpected ways Winthrop鈥檚 words came to lodge in American consciousness. At the same time, the book offers a probing reflection on how nationalism encourages the invention of 鈥渢imeless鈥� texts to straighten out the crooked realities of the past.
Awards and Recognition
- World's 2018 Books of the Year
"Rodgers鈥� superlative book is an intellectual page-turner鈥攁 muscular examination of the culture and theology behind the 鈥楳odel,鈥� a cogent study of the methods by which a nation gives itself meaning through the inventive interpretation of documents from the past, and a sharp-eyed accounting of how Winthrop鈥檚 鈥榗ity on a hill鈥� phrase came to be used in modern political parlance."鈥擯atrick T. Reardon, Chicago Tribune
"In a wonderful new book, As a City on a Hill: The Story of America鈥檚 Most Famous Lay Sermon, distinguished intellectual historian Daniel Rodgers recaptures Winthrop鈥檚 original meaning and explains why it鈥檚 relevant to Americans today. . . . [A] masterful history."鈥擱obert Tracy McKenzie, Christianity Today
"[Daniel Rodgers] argues that the comparison of America to a city on a hill that politicians often use, quoting from John Winthrop鈥檚 1630 lay sermon 鈥楳odel of Christian Charity,鈥� is not true to the sermon鈥檚 original sentiment and distorts the historical legacy of the passage. . . . It wasn鈥檛 until Cold War鈥揺ra writers and thinkers revisited the 鈥楳odel鈥� in search of evidence of America鈥檚 universal nature (ignoring the text鈥檚 historical context) that it regained popularity. Through a winding, enthralling timeline, Rodgers successfully illuminates the strange history of 鈥榓 text that we think we know so well that we barely know it at all.鈥�"鈥�Publishers Weekly
"As a City on a Hill is a masterful synthesis. Spanning four centuries, the book deftly narrates the intellectual history of 鈥楢merica鈥檚 most famous lay sermon.鈥�"鈥擲eth Dowland, Reading Religion
"搁辞诲驳别谤蝉鈥檚 As a City on a Hill is an exceptional piece of scholarship. Eminently readable and sophisticated in its analysis, scholars of nationalism, religion, political history, and the colonial Americas will find much material of interest, as will general audiences seeking to learn more about the shifting contours of American nationalism and about how historians, public officials, and the public work work perpetually to remake both national history and the means by which it is propagated. This is an important book."鈥擶illiam S. Cossen, H-Nationalism
"A model of clearly written scholarship."鈥擬arvin Olasky, World (25 Good History Reads)
鈥淎 gem of a book. Daniel Rodgers鈥檚 inquiry into John Winthrop鈥檚 much-quoted essay challenges a raft of assumptions and brims with insight and provocation. Rodgers has always written intellectual history at its very best: learned, searching, and vital.鈥濃�擩ill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States
鈥淭oday, most of us understand John Winthrop鈥檚 famous phrase, 鈥榓 city upon a hill,鈥� to mean that America is the exceptional nation and model for all mankind. But in this brilliant and engaging book, distinguished historian Daniel Rodgers shows how the phrase meant almost the opposite鈥攁nd how it has been used and misused throughout American history.鈥濃�擣rances FitzGerald, Pulitzer Prize鈥搘inning author of Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam
鈥泪苍 As a City on a Hill, Daniel Rodgers offers a brilliant and much-needed revision to the legend that has been built around John Winthrop鈥檚 famous sermon. This sharply written and compellingly argued book shows how Winthrop鈥檚 words, often misread as a precursor to American nationalism, were in fact a call to our responsibilities to build community and nurture mutuality.鈥濃�擡. J. Dionne, coauthor of One Nation after Trump and author of Our Divided Political Heart
鈥凌别补诲颈苍驳 As a City on a Hill is an opportunity to be reminded yet again why Daniel Rodgers鈥檚 work has been so formative for generations of American historians. In captivating prose, he demonstrates beautifully how every present is layered with its past, even in ways hidden to its actors.鈥濃�擩ennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, author of American Nietzsche
鈥淎 fine book, As a City on a Hill shows how the multiple meanings of John Winthrop鈥檚 sermon unfolded, with unexpected developments at every turn, over almost four centuries.鈥濃�擩ames T. Kloppenberg, the author of Toward Democracy
鈥泪苍 lucid and engaging prose, Daniel Rodgers awakens us to the presence of a historical myth鈥攁nd to the particular importance of history in the creation of American nationalism and national identity. This is a book based on feats of archival research but above all on an acute ear for language and the multiple valences that, over time, particular words acquire.鈥濃�擠avid D. Hall, author of A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Public Life in New England
