Transforming America: Politics and Culture During the Reagan Years

by Robert M. Collins

Overview

By the end of the 1980s, the "malaise" that had once pervaded American society was replaced by a renewed sense of confidence and national purpose. However, beneath this veneer of optimism was a nation confronting the effects of massive federal deficits

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231511308
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	01/19/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Robert M. Collins is the William H. Byler Professor of Social and Behavioral Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and is the author of More: The Politics of Economic Growth in Postwar America and The Business Response to Keynes, 1929-1964.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Malaise
2. Enter Ronald Reagan, Pragmatic Ideologue
3. Reaganomics
4. Greed is Good? The American Business System in the Eighties
5. Social Problems, Societal Issues
6. The Postmodern Moment
7. Culture War
8. Combating the Evil Empire
9. Winning the Cold War
10. The Eighties Legacy: The Recentering of Politics and Culture

Notes
Index

Columbia University Press

What People are Saying About This

Donald T. Critchlow

Robert Collins's Transforming America deserves to be placed high on the pile of must-read books. Collins captures the charm, tenacity, and accomplishments of Reagan, the man and president, bringing judicious insight to a decade that changed America forever.

David Farber

Master historian Robert Collins has written a brilliant, balanced account of the Reagan years. His chapters on Reaganomics and business in the 80s are a tour de force and his analysis of Americans' simultaneous embrace of a permissive culture and a conservative politics is as compelling as it is fascinating.

Michael Flamm

A gifted economic historian, Robert Collins has produced a clear and compelling analysis of a critical era and a controversial figure.

Editorial Reviews

An astute account of politics and culture during the Reagan years.

New York Sun - Nicholas Wapshott

A masterly synoptic account of the Reagan years (including two chapters on the Cold War)... that is especially good on domestic issues.... Collins is the rare historian who is literate in economics and public policy. He combines this knowledge with a writing style that is direct and understated. Indeed, it is hard to tell from his scrupulous prose what his own ideological leanings may be. Although he does not shrink from criticizing Reagan or his record, Collins confidently dispatches many of the well-entrenched criticisms of the Gipper that most historians roll over for, and in a way that does not read like a pro-Reagan brief.

Claremont Review of Books - Steven F Hayward

Any student of the period would benefit from having this book both for general reference and for a lively, informative read.

American Studies - John Matlin

Transforming America is an engaging, readable account of an important decade.

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society - Jerome L. Himmelstein

An astute account of politics and culture during the Reagan years.

— Nicholas Wapshott

New York Sun

A masterly synoptic account of the Reagan years (including two chapters on the Cold War)... that is especially good on domestic issues.... Collins is the rare historian who is literate in economics and public policy. He combines this knowledge with a writing style that is direct and understated. Indeed, it is hard to tell from his scrupulous prose what his own ideological leanings may be. Although he does not shrink from criticizing Reagan or his record, Collins confidently dispatches many of the well-entrenched criticisms of the Gipper that most historians roll over for, and in a way that does not read like a pro-Reagan brief.

— Steven F Hayward

Claremont Review of Books

Any student of the period would benefit from having this book both for general reference and for a lively, informative read.

— John Matlin

American Studies

Transforming America is an engaging, readable account of an important decade.

— Jerome L. Himmelstein

Register of the Kentucky Historical Society