America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story Top Quality

The historical figure who has had the greatest impact on America is . . . Moses?

For almost three decades, Cecil B. DeMille's version of the events in the book of Exodus and its principal figure has been the only movie to receive an annual airing on network television, but according to "America's Prophet" by Bruce Feiler, Moses's impact reaches far beyond the Easter season. He is the figure that defines America."You can't understand American history," Feiler writes, "without understanding Moses. He is a looking glass into our soul."

Columbus compared himself to Moses, and so did Barack Obama. Martin Luther King was inspired by Moses when leading his people on their quest for equality, and three of our founding fathers - Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams - even proposed placing Moses on the seal of the United States. And it goes on and on, with Moses even providing the inspiration for comic book heroes, including Superman. The Man of Steel, created by two Jewish dreamers in Cleveland, Ohio, may have blended elements of Greek mythology and science-fiction, but, Fieler tells us, "many of its principal themes are drawn from the Hebrew Bible, and its backstory is taken almost point by point from Moses."

Moses suggested that conditions could always be improved, that freedom and dignity were possible no matter how dire the circumstances.This theme continues to inspire Americans today, as does Moses's belief that we must embrace the outcast and uplift the downtrodden. Fieler takes us from the Pilgrims who arrived in America in search of religious freedom through the shameful era of slavery and onward, including Cecil B. DeMille's depiction of Moses that Fieler, drawing from the director's archives, demonstrates was an attempt to promote American values at a time when Communism was on the rise around the globe.

Fieler doesn't promote religion, but he shows the profound impact of religion in shaping the American character, disproving the claim that the United States was founded on something other than Judeo-Christian principles. "America's Prophet" is an engrossing read and an enlightening and original lesson in American history.

Brian W. Fairbanks
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