Join Dr. Mark Harmon for a discussion of The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For by David McCullough. Bring your lunch or pick up something downtown. Drinks are available for fifty cents. Reading the book is optional. Books Sandwiched In is generously sponsored by the Friends of Knox County Public Library.

"David McCullough, twice recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, is a national treasure," Harmon said. "His latest, The American Spirit, shows that this historian not only can write compelling books, but also can take a routine speech and make it into an uplifting tale about humanity."

The American Spirit is a timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, a scholar of American history who has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Over the course of his distinguished career, McCullough has spoken before Congress, the White House, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. In his speeches, McCullough uses our history to remind us, in this age of political divisiveness, who we are and what we should aspire to, making clear the importance of history as an essential guide to American character and values.

Harmon is a professor of journalism and electronic media at the University of Tennessee. He is the author of four books, more than 30 research articles, and more than 70 conference papers. He writes a weekly column in the Knoxville News Sentinel, twice in the past five years winning a national Sigma Delta Chi award for column writing. From 2006 to 2010 he served as an elected Knox County Commissioner. He also has worked as a television news producer and a radio journalist.