Even before publication, this extraordinary book -- the personal and political manifesto of America's new Speaker of the House -- has already ignited a firestorm of controversy, sparking a national debate and generating a week of headlines from coast to coast. After 17 years in Congress, Newt Gingrich's day has finally arrived; since becoming Speaker of the House, he has appeared on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. A nation desperate for renewal is clamoring to hear his message: Our precious institutions can be rescued from decay only through personal motivation and faith. This tidal wave of interest began with the American people, who turned the U.S. House of Representatives upside down in the November 1994 election, delivering a clear message to the Federal government and empowering the first Republican-dominated Congress in 40 years. To Renew America draws on the Speaker's impressive command of American history to demonstrate how we can renew our civilization culturally, educationally, economically and politically. This renewal depends on recovering the five key elements that have been all but entirely lost from the national life: personal strength, entrepreneurial free enterprise, the spirit of invention and discovery, commitment to quality and the lessons of American history. To Renew America is an epochal statement that resonates with the political outlook that Newt Gingrich has championed for a quarter century. But it is much more: richly personal and anecdotal, the book reveals the private person behind the compelling public persona, showing Newt Gingrich as a man very much of his own time and generation.