actual deed, or by omission ofntheir duty, and desire pardon forntheir offense.” Indeed, thoughnUtopia has provided us with anrubric for the perfect, unrealizednsociety, those presently mostndedicated to utopianism disdainnalmost everything its authornstood for, except perhaps hisncollectivism, radically reinter-npreted. But if More’s ideas do notnbelong to our age, they did not fitnwell in his own either. Sixteenthcenturynmonarchs ignored rathernthan applied More’s preceptsnand finally executed More himselfnwhen his unwavering religiousnintegrity conflicted withnpolitical expediency. Like othernsaints. More belonged to heavennand eternity; he could never benanything but a stranger, pilgrim,nand martyr in the temporal worldnRichard Nixon has written nonUtopia and though his sins havenbeen grossly exaggerated by thenmedia, he is not likely to bencanonized. Nonetheless, fewncontemporary statesmen excelnhim in understanding what isnrequired to prevent the mostnAflfirming AmericanBud Shuster: Believing innAmerica; William Morrow; NewnYork.nOfficially, the early-19thcenturyndoctrine of ManifestnDestiny, whereby the UnitednStates was divinely destined tonexpand triumphantly in geography,nwealth, and influence, isnvery much out of intellectualnChronicles of Culturenhumane and valuable features ofnterrestrial reality, including thenAmerican freedoms permittingnfidelity without martyrdom,nfrom disappearing either into annuclear fireball or into the communistndystopia of Soviet hegemony.nIn Real Peace he arguesnwith incisive logic and clarity forna “hard-headed detente” whichncombines renewed Western resolvenand cooperation, greaternmilitary strength, strategicallynorchestrated trade, intelligentnnegotiation, and global propagationnof American ideals. He alsonshreds the myths of the naivenpacifists who seek peace throughna nuclear freeze, disarmament,nworld government, expandedntrade, or conciliatory “understanding.”nThough lacking thentimeless elements of style andncontent which have madenUtopia a classic for centuries,nNixon’s book offers acute insightsninto today’s realities,ninsights which could help tonensure that there are futurencenturies of books and freenreaders. (BC) Dnfavor. However, during the lastntwo decades something like thenmirror image of this doctrine hasnbeen popular among leadingnacademics, journalists, andncommentators, who feel thatnbecause of its alleged racism,nimperialism, and economicninequities America is iaexorablynfated to suffer internationalnhumiliation and domestic tur­nmoil. Our victory in the Mexican-nAmerican War in the last centurynand our ignominious defeat innVietnam ten years ago suggestnthat either version of this doctrine,nif widely accepted, maynfiilfiU itself as historical reality.nHaving seen quite enough ofnneo-Manifest Destiny, CongressmannBud Shuster persuasivelynreminds us of the just andnhumane reasons for believing innsomething closer to the originalnformulation. Answering “thendrumbeats of the negativists andnnihilists,” he marshals hardnevidence to demonstrate that inneconomics, in social mobility, inneducation, and in freedom,nAmerica is still the global leader,nproviding unprecedented opportunitiesnfor its own citizens andnprecious hope for all the peoplesnof the world. Nonetheless, fijturenprogress will require Americansnto reverse some dangerousntendencies in government spending,nin public education, inndefense posture, and in culturalnattimdes. Congressman Shuster’snemphasis on patriotic confidencenas the key to all of thesenproblems may make his booknseem overly simplistic and thereforeninferior to heavily footnotednworks written from a differentnperspective. But too much intelligenceninforms this formerncomputer expert’s fervor tondismiss it as mere sloganeering.nThough the pedants promoting andestiny of decay try to obscurenthe fact, every analysis of thenAmerican ethos and its future, nonmatter how scholarly or rigorous,nnecessarily rests on unprovablenpremises requiring somenleap of Ikith. Congressman Shusternwould have Americans leap tonyet higher ground; others wouldnprefer that we all plunge into thenabyss. DnOf Marriage and MonticellonJan Lewis: The Pursuit ofnHappiness: Family andnValues in Jefferson’s Virginia;nCambridge University Press;nNew York.nWhat did Jefferson have innmind when he added “the pursuitnof happiness” to the Declarationnof Independence’s short listnof inalienable rights? Critics suchnas George Will have charted anhost of dire consequences arisingnfrom this peculiar, seeminglynhedonistic phrase. Yet Jan Lewis,na historian at Rutgers Universitynwith a passion for old Virginiandiaries, suggests instead thatnJefferson may have been gropingntoward identifying and understandingna new sentimentalitynthen taking root in America.nIn the four decades after thenAmerican Revolution, she argues,nthe pursuit of happiness lednAmerican men and women home.nDying out was the old patriarchalnnnfamily, focused on lineage andncharacterized by a rigid formalitynin parent-child relationships.nReplacing it was a new domesticnmodel, focused on love, thenhome, and children, vs^heren”family” became the centralnforum in which individual livesnfound meaning.nEven among erstwhile Southemngentry, Lewis declares, newnand recognizably middle-classnvalues took root. As she writes;nVirginians who rhapsodizednabout the family were creatingnand reinforcing an articlenof faith for their society, an