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“True freedom must be an ‘ordered freedom��, at the center of which is what we call ‘self-government��.��

I was surprised by this book. In a pleasant way. It was much less political than I thought it was going to be, in fact there are no political references of any note that are more current than the Clinton presidency. I’m sure other modern presidents were mentioned, but the only two I can remember being mentioned were Clinton and Nixon.
The book was also just much better in general then I expected. I think Mr. Metaxas wants his book to be relevant long after the current political climate has passed away, so he wrote this book from a historical perspective, which will give it a much longer shelf life.

Especially good is chapter four where Mr. Metaxas examines the idea of Heroes, specifically heroes in American culture. His line-by-line examination of the Longfellow poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere�� is just lovely. This respect for our past, despite its flaws, is just not what it was when I was a child. It's lacking in American culture currently (in sections of American culture) and it makes me sad. I for one am glad that Mr. Metaxas is defending it.
There is also a nice bit about Squanto, and the providential aspects of his life. If you don’t know who that was, I read books about him when I was a kid. Now he has all but disappeared from popular culture.
The book also includes an excellent examination of the timing, and miracle, of the drafting of the US Constitution. This section was especially stirring and thought provoking.

In IF YOU CAN KEEP IT, THE FORGOTTEN PROMISE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY Metaxas focuses on the idea of America, venerating heroes, the importance of moral leaders, loving America, and other concepts. It’s a positive book, but not sycophantic. It is a text that refuses to ignore the good just because there is also bad.
I end with this thought from the author as he concluded this work, “So go forth and love America, knowing that if your love is true it will be transmuted one way or another into a love of everything that is good beyond America, which is her golden promise to the world. And the promise that we, you and I, must keep.��