Minotaur Book Club: Reflections

For October we are going to do something different and discuss all of the books that we have read up until now for the Minotaur Book Club. We'll be looking for patterns that outline the history of the United States and define historical culture as a nation.

(This will also give us more time to read our chosen book for December:

"Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul" by John M. Barry

More details on the December book can be found below.)

Here is the list of books that we have covered so far:

• June 2025: "Forgotten Founders" by Bruce E. Johansen

• July & September 2025: "The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

• October 2025: "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine

• November 2025: "The Invisible Hook" by Peter Leeson

• January & February 2026: "We the People" by Jill Lepore

• April 2026: "Democracy Awakening" by Heather Cox Richardson

• May 2026: "How Minds Change" by David McRaney

• July 2026: "A Resistance History of the United States" by Tad Stoermer

• August 2026: "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau

• September 2026: "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick

Date and Time:

Thursday, September 24th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm EST

December Book Club:

"Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul" by John M. Barry

Available through the author's website:

https://www.johnmbarry.com/

Or check your local library or wherever you buy books.

"For four hundred years, Americans have wrestled with and fought over two concepts that define the nature of the nation: the proper relation between church and state and between a free individual and the state. These debates began with the extraordinary thought and struggles of Roger Williams, who had an unparalleled understanding of the conflict between a government that justified itself by "reason of state"-i.e. national security-and its perceived "will of God" and the "ancient rights and liberties" of individuals.

"This is a story of power, set against Puritan America and the English Civil War. Williams's interactions with King James, Francis Bacon, Oliver Cromwell, and his mentor Edward Coke set his course, but his fundamental ideas came to fruition in America, as Williams, though a Puritan, collided with John Winthrop's vision of his "City upon a Hill".

"Acclaimed historian John M. Barry explores the development of these fundamental ideas through the story of the man who was the first to link religious freedom to individual liberty, and who created in America the first government and society on earth informed by those beliefs. The story is essential to the continuing debate over how we define the role of religion and political power in modern American life."

Previous Book Club:

For September we read "Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick.

You can watch our previous book clubs on our YouTube Channel.

The Minotaur Book Club delves into timeless questions and contemporary challenges, inviting participants to explore the roots of governance, liberty, and democracy through the lens of history and philosophy. The discussions will provide a fertile ground for examining how the principles of justice, equality, and collective responsibility have evolved and where they still fall short.

Purpose: The purpose of the book club is to counteract our country’s Historical Amnesia and strengthen our democracy. To that end, we will read and discuss books that help us to understand the American Project, diagnose persisting problems, and suggest ways to fulfill the mission of the Preamble to the Constitution.

"We the People of the United States, to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The Minotaur is one of the key archetypes representing the threat to social order when government leaders threaten democracy by converting public goods to private purposes. The best defense for a democracy is educated citizens.

“A society ignorant and free, never was, never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson

“We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin