“Old reference books are like tree rings. Without them, there'd be no w...” — Jill Lepore Quote

“Old reference books are like tree rings. Without them, there'd be no way to know what a tree had lived through.”

“When I was a kid, my father would go to our school in the summer to sweep, mop, and wax the floors, room by room, hall by hall, week after week.”

“History is hereditary only in this way: we, all of us, inherit everything, and then we choose what to cherish, what to disavow, and what to do next, which is why it's worth trying to know where things come from.”

“I offer optimism. All my books have happy endings. I don't see any point in letting my readers down at the end. I'm an optimist - people feel that in my books.”

“First it was the whites, and then their Negro message bearers. And the word was always the same: 'Tell your sons to take their names off the books. Don't show up at the courthouse voting day.'”

“Nobody gives a damn about the Merrimac. You know how it is. Winners write the history books.”