This is one of the most quoted books ever and now I understand why. Written in the early 1800s, Alexis de Tocueville, a French visitor to America, studied America as an emerging nation and wrote an amazing tribute to the benefits of a free society based on a constitution that allows equality of all men. He critiqued American government, business, eduction, institutions and the arts, as well as Americans in general. His perspectives give new light to the things we take for granted every day. This book, perhaps more than any other, has been responsible for the the world shifts to democratic governments in Europe and elsewhere over the past 150 years. This should be required reading for all high school or college students. He also had great foresight as to what would happen to America if we did not protect those basic freedoms ... and these things are happening today.