GOD'S COUNTRY AND MINE (344 pp.)—Jacques Barzun—Atlantic-Little, Brown ($5).
When a certified intellectual leads a long cheer for the U.S.—and moreover invites the jeers of his fellows by calling his book God's Country and Mine—it amounts to a conscious act of courage. French-born Jacques Barzun, 46, professor of history at Columbia University, has some reservations about his adopted country. The subtitle of his book is "A Declaration of Love Spiced with a Few Harsh Words." But even after his grudging left hand has taken away some of what his generous right has dished...