Why do so many different people with widely dissimilar ideas and customs get along as Americans? In American Beliefs, John McElroy identifies and explains those essential ideas of American culture that promote the unity of a vast nation and a diverse people - because they have been shared and acted upon by generations of Americans.

American Beliefs is a book greatly needed, a powerful antidote to the many examinations of American culture that concentrate on the differences among Americans. Here, instead, is why they are so much alike.