Martin Walker is the author of America Reborn and a former Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Writing in the middle of the 19th century Alexis de Toqueville described the emphasis on individualism that marked American society. That theme is used by Martin Walker to construct a narrative history of the 20th century based on the lives of 26 individuals. His selections and accounts portray a nation that achieved global success in exporting its culture or "soft power" and building its economic and military "hard power" as well.