Burett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

The town of Concord, Massachusetts has been famous twice in history.

First, as the location of the shot hurt around the world, which kickstarted the American

Revolution in the 18th century, and second, as the home of several famous writers and

thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in the 19th.

My guest today, Professor of History Robert A. Gross, has written landmark books on both

these periods in Concord's history.

The first, called the Minute Men in the World, was published in 1976.

Now, nearly 50 years later, he's published a new volume called The Transcendentalist

in the World.

In both books, Bob delts into the details of everyday life in Concord in order to eliminate

broader trends and forces in American culture.

In the case of his second book, he does so to explore how the communal, hierarchical nature

of life in America during the Revolutionary Period shifted to a more autonomous and bottom-up

ethos during the time of transcendentalism.

A movement which prized individuality over conformity and intuition over logic, believed

divinity existed in each person and throughout nature, and celebrated the authority of the

individual over the authority of institutions.

In today's episode, Bob and I discuss how changing forces in commerce and religion,

as well as a fervent, emerging interest in self-improvement led to this shift, and how

thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau set a new course for what it means to live in life of

integrity.

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