Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create accountShop the sale
In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support African American Literature Book Club!
Shop nowDemocracy, If We Can Keep It
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn morePublished to coincide with the ACLU’s centennial, a major book by the nationally celebrated journalist and bestselling author
For a century, the American Civil Liberties Union has fought to keep Americans in touch with the founding values of the Constitution. As its centennial approached, the organization invited Ellis Cose to become its first ever writer-in residence, serving as an “embedded journalist” with complete editorial independence.
The result is Cose’s groundbreaking Democracy, If We Can Keep It: The ACLU and Its 100-Year Battle for Our Rights, the most authoritative account ever of America’s premier defender of civil liberties. A vivid work of history and journalism, Democracy, If We Can Keep It is not just the definitive story of the ACLU but also an essential account of America’s rediscovery of rights it had granted but long denied. Cose’s narrative begins with World War I and brings us to today, chronicling the ACLU’s role through the horrors of 9/11, the saga of Edward Snowden, and the phenomenon of Donald Trump.
A chronicle of America’s most difficult ethical quandaries from the Red Scare, the Scottsboro Boys’ trials, Japanese American internment, McCarthyism, and Vietnam, Democracy, If We Can Keep It weaves these accounts into a deeper story of American freedom—one that is profoundly relevant to our present moment.
Ellis Cose is a former columnist for Newsweek, chairman of the editorial board of the New York Daily News, contributor and critic for Time, and columnist for USA Today. The author of numerous books, including the bestselling The Rage of a Privileged Class, he lives in New York City.
Reviews
"Narrator Danny Campbell's deep, somewhat raspy voice is a plus. His informal style makes the audiobook more accessible, and his voice projects well, which adds emphasis to his performance."
—AudioFile Magazine
“Comprehensive and even-handed . . . this judicious account reveals just how integral the ACLU has been to the past century of American history.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Cose’s book is an excellent choice for anyone seeking to understand the ACLU as an organization and for those wanting to explore how the fight for civil liberties has evolved and helped to shape the society we have today."
—Library Journal
Want the printed book?
Get the print edition from African American Literature Book Club.
Get the print edition