American Experiment Book Club
Celebrate our country’s semiquincentennial with the American Experiment Book Club!
A recent YouGov poll found that 40% of U.S. adults read zero books in 2025. This is a tragedy! Our Founding Fathers believed a well-read, well-informed American populace was crucial to a successful self-governing society. “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge… is the only guardian of true liberty,” as James Madison put it.
In that spirit, journey with us this year as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday by reading and discussing five (5) books hand-picked by American Experiment staff members for their literary, historical, and/or societal significance.
Each book is allotted 6-8 weeks to read. At the start of each new book, interested participants will receive some background information from the book club leader to help guide them through the text.
Once we’ve finished reading the book, we’ll meet for a coffee, luncheon, or cocktail hour to discuss, at no cost to you. These will be low-pressure chances to chat about the text and make friends (not lectures!). They are open to all.
Bonus: If you attend all five book club meetings in 2026, we will give you a special commemorative 250th anniversary mug to honor your commitment to a strong Minnesota!
You can subscribe to book club email updates at the red button below. (Note: This does NOT register you for any meetings, only indicates interest in the book club.)
Books, Leaders, & Schedule
Unless otherwise noted, all book club meetings will be held in Minnetonka, with a virtual Zoom option provided when possible.
Book #1 (February-March):
Missionary for Freedom: The Life and Times of Walter Judd by Lee Edwards
Book Club Meeting: Tuesday, March 31, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Book Leader: Bill Walsh
Description: Walter Judd is the most important Minnesota conservative you’ve never heard of. After a career as a medical doctor and missionary to China, Walter Judd served the people of Minneapolis in Congress from 1943 to 1963. After getting a front-row seat to the leadership of Mao Tse-tung in China (including fleeing for his life on several occasions), Judd became the leading voice in Congress against the spread of communism. He was an advisor to presidents from Truman to Reagan, gave the keynote address at the 1960 Republican National Convention (after almost becoming Nixon’s choice for VP), and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981. If all of this is a surprise to you, join Vice President of Communications Bill Walsh in reading Missionary for Freedom: The Life and Times of Walter Judd.
Book #2 (April-May):
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Book Club Meeting: Thursday, May 21, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Book Leader: Catrin Wigfall
Description: Join policy fellow Catrin Wigfall this spring to read The Killer Angels, a gripping novel about the ultimate test of the American experiment, the Civil War. Author Michael Shaara brings the Battle of Gettysburg to life through the minds of the men who fought it, using his writing to explore leadership, duty, and conscience amid a nation tearing itself apart. By inhabiting figures on both sides of the conflict, the novel asks what courage looks like when history offers no easy choices. The Killer Angels is as readable as it is profound, and its meditation on unity, sacrifice, and moral resolve feels especially urgent in our own fractured moment.
Book #3 (June-July):
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn
Book Club Meeting: Thursday, July 30, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Book Leader: John Phelan
Description: As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we should ask: What ideas motivated the men who wrote and signed it? Where did these ideas come from? How relevant are they today? In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, acclaimed historian Bernard Bailyn explores these questions by looking at what the Americans of that time said themselves, delving deep into the vast collection of contemporary publications. Join economist John Phelan as we venture through Baylin’s book, which will take us as close as we can ever get into the minds of the men who created the United States of America.
Book #4 (August-September):
Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings
Book Club Meeting: Monday, September 21, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Book Leader: Josiah Padley
Description: Join policy fellow Josiah Padley this fall to read through a selection of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches. During a time of incredible civil strife, Lincoln redefined the Union and inspired Americans to discover the “better angels” of their nature. Lincoln’s clever, beautiful prose will forever be worth reading — but his desire to rebuild broken civic bonds resonates especially strongly in our divided times. If you’ve never encountered Lincoln, now is the time to listen to the leader who forged a new national identity. Note: Attendees will receive emails that provide reading resources and historic context for each speech.
Book #5 (October-November):
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy
Book Club Meeting: Friday, November 20, 9:00 am
Book Leader: David Zimmer
Description: Join public safety policy fellow David Zimmer this fall as we read Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America. Set in South Los Angeles in the early 2000s, the book chronicles the overwhelming number of black-on-black murders in Los Angeles during that period and the downward spiral that occurred when law enforcement failed to solve those crimes. Case by case, tenacious investigation led to a rebound in accountability, improved legitimacy in the system, and reduced retaliatory violence — lessons that must remain evergreen in law enforcement.
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