Freedom, the oldest of cliches and the most modern of aspirations, is the unifying theme in the new survey of American history by Eric Foner, the well-known historian and author of The Story of American Freedom. As the fundamental idea behind Americans' sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation, freedom is deeply embedded in the record of our history and the language of everyday life. Give Me Liberty! examines the changing meanings of freedom, the social conditions that make freedom possible, and its shifting boundaries from colonial times to the early twenty-first century.