Quotations from politicians and generals, famous explorers, presidents, Native Americans, ethnic minorities, women, labor representatives, and slaves tell the grassroots story of America, from the pre-Columbus explorers to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Continuing his collections of quotations on various historical themes, Langer presents short quotations chronologically, juxtaposing those of the famous, mostly rich males of European descent, with those by women, people of color, ethnics, and others excluded from mainstream history. He mines speeches, letters, conversations, diaries, editorials, interviews, news stories, advertisements, songs, poems, jokes, short stories and novels that had some impact on American life and thought, judicial decisions, and analyses by historians and other scholars. American thought is traced from the pre-Columbus explorers to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by encompassing and juxtaposing the words of politicians, generals, Native Americans, ethnic minorities, women, labor representatives, and slaves.