America the Beautiful in Dark Times

Entwined around the themes of cherished democratic ideals and the dangers of extremist populism, America the Beautiful in Dark Times consists of a set of powerful reflections and sober meditations on contemporary politics and the American future. In these writings, Shepherd succinctly identifies current threats to American democracy while expressing faith in democratic values and resolve in sustaining the institutions through which they are realized.

America the Beautiful in Dark Times begins and ends with reflections on the fundamental ideals of American democracy expressed by the nation's sixteenth president in a dark time of civil war. In between these affirmations, Gordon Shepherd depicts the dangerous threats of present-day Trumpism to democratic norms and the capitulation of the Republican Party in the service of Trump's authoritarian vendetta to regain the White House after falsely refusing to concede his defeat in the 2020 election. At the same time, Shepherd writes of our capacity for sustaining hope and resolve in dark times through conversation, poetry, and literature—through storytelling that reminds us of honor and respect in a civil society, and through the concerned voices of parents and teachers who uphold in their homes and classrooms democratic principles for America's children to learn and cherish.

Gordon Shepherd is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Central Arkansas. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Shepherd earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and his PhD from the State University of New York at Stonybrook where he studied social theory under Lewis Coser. In collaboration with his brother, Gary, he has authored numerous academic articles and several books on religion and social change. Along with his brother, his literary repertoire includes a boyhood memoir, Growing Up in the City of the Saints and Stories of Forgotten Sports Idols and Other Ordinary Mortals. Most recently, Shepherd is the author of Lost Conversations with Abraham Lincoln.