On this episode of Our American Stories, In 1831, a young French aristocrat named Alexis de Tocqueville traveled to the United States, ostensibly to study America's prison system. What he was really seeking was something much bigger: an understanding of democracy itself. The result was Democracy in America, a book that remains one of the most insightful works ever written about the United States.

As part of our ongoing Story of Us—Story of America series, Dr. Bill McClay, author of Land of Hope, shares the story of Tocqueville's remarkable journey and the observations that made him famous and best explained Americans to the world.

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