Photo by Elizabeth Easton

James Traub has written extensively for America’s leading publications, including The New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine. Among his many books are biographies of John Quincy Adams, Judah Benjamin, and Hubert Humphrey, as well as What Was Liberalism? The Past, Present, and Promise of a Noble Idea. His most recent book is The Cradle of Citizenship: How Schools Can Help Save Our Democracy, in which Traub chronicles the year he spent observing public schools across the country, talking to teachers, scholars, and curriculum designers. He finds teachers in Florida who are afraid of discussing topics that might be seen as "woke"; a red-blue war incarnated in the 1619 Project and 1776 Report; a profound disagreement over what exactly civic education means; and, most dismayingly, ever-diminishing expectations of students with every-dwindling attention spans. 

Yet The Cradle of Citizenship also finds sources of hope. Traub learns that, despite endless right-wing critiques, virtually all social studies teachers keep their personal views to themselves and encourage students to develop views of their own. He describes the extraordinary collaboration between liberal and conservative scholars that led to the creation of "Educating for American Democracy," a roadmap for the teaching of civics. Finally, Traub describes the "classical school," a traditional model based on the study of great books and conscious molding of character, which is derided as reactionary in progressive circles yet prompts students to discuss books and ideas with depth. Shedding light on one of the most divisive issues of our time, The Cradle of Citizenship upholds a vision of civics education as it could be.