America in Our Time: From World War II to Nixon--What Happened and Why

Hodgson covers every major trend in America for the 25 years following WWII with a depth of analysis that's rarely matched -- the migrations of Blacks to the North, Whites to the suburbs, the waves of protest movements, the shattering of consensus on American values, and the rise of a conservative backlash. As he cites Michael Novak, "It has not gone without notice that the same elites that once called white ethnics Polacks, Hunkies, Micks and Guineas, now call them racists, fascists and pigs". Possibly the only major oversight is insufficient investigation of the feminist movement. In covering events like the Detroit riots of 1967, Hodgson conducts a ruthless critical comparison of accounts, from street talk to the densest sociological studies. He proves a competent slayer of urban myths.

First-rate, compelling journey into the nature of the American Establishment, the 1960's Civil Rights Revolution and Counter-Culture, and the fracturing of the post-war foreign policy consensus. Highly recommended!

I was assigned this book for my doctoral comprehensive exams. I found it to be the most readable and enjoyable history book that I have read on American history covering the period following World War II. Hodgson ties together many disperate elements, from our involvement in Vietnam, Watergate, the free speech and counterculture movements, and the equal rights movement. Hodgson's main thesis is the following -- that by the late 1950s, a new American consensus had developed about what makes America tick. It includes the following subpoints: 1) The American free enterprise system differed from the old capitalism, creating the potential for social justice. 2) What made the new economic capitalism go was growth 3) The the capitalist system, there is a certain organic harmony in the society 4) Society can now solve social problems. All that it requires is expert knowledge 5) The U.S. has enemies, mostly Marxists 6) Our system is go good, we have a duty to share this system with the world Hodgson shows how the events of the last 40 years have been shaped by these unspoken beliefs in the decisions and tragedies of this period. America in our time is written more like a long feature article than a scholarly work, which makes it more capitativing than an average book in the field. If I were going to teach a class on Modern American History, I would definately make this one a required reading on this topic. Check it out.