Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties America

"Jenkins has produced a humdinger.... He provides an engrossing tour of the recesses of the American mind, demonstrating that the '70s were about more than 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Smokey and the Bandit.'"--Jacob Heilbrunn, New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant.... A rich, surprising reading of what Tom Wolfe in 1976 christened the Me Decade.... A bracing re-imagination of an era.... An important contribution to our understanding of post-sixties America."--Tim Cavanaugh, Reason
"Leaves the reader with a palpable sense of how the legacy of the 70's (or the anti-60's, as Mr. Jenkins terms the post-1975 years) reverberates to this day in America.... Mr. Jenkins not only emphasizes similarities 'between the economic situation then and the one that exists now'--namely, serious
deficits, lax fiscal discipline, rising energy prices and high spending on defense and national security--but also underscores similarities in the absolutist, Manichean language employed by both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Jenkins's bold idea that the 1970s (not the much emphasized 1960s and 1980s) was a pivotal decade is interesting."--The Progressive
"Jenkins effectively blends American politics and world events with the popular culture of the time. His introduction stands alone as a cogent political-social critique, though the entire book is a joy--and revelation--to read. This significant work of political history is highly recommended."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"It is common wisdom, of course, that the conservative turn of the early '80s represented a backlash against, and a repudiation of, the naive but hopeful values ofthe '60s. But Jenkins' intelligent and judicious account of the period is nevertheless enlightening, largely because of the care he
takes in identifying the deep themes that united Americans' attitudes toward perceived threats of varying natures and, one might have thought, quite distinct orders."--Troy Jollimore, San Francisco Chronicle
"An interpretive history whose depth and cogency may steadily increase as historical perspective lengthens."--Booklist
"This book addresses a question that haunts both the historical literature and the nation itself: how did the politically and culturally liberating promise of America in the sixties transform itself into the decade of reaction and denial that was the American eighties. In this thoughtful and
sophisticated examination, our eyes are opened to previously undiscovered continuities in political culture that invite a re-examination of the period in question, as well as re-evaluation of the path that has led us to our present moment. A highly provocative, and eloquent argument, well worth
pondering." --Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media? and When Presidents Lie
"In this thoughtful and provocative book, Philip Jenkins challenges the conventional wisdom about the 1960s and its legacy. Moving comfortably between pop culture and high politics, Jenkins not only forces us to rethink when the sixties ended and the seventies began, he calls into question many of
our basic assumptions about the period. This is an important, refreshingly creative, and highly readable look at recent American social and political history." --Steve Gillon, The History Channel resident historian and author of Boomer Nation
"Decade ofNightmares offers an important reinterpretation of the 1970s and a compelling explanation of how America moved from Woodstock Nation to the Reagan Revolution. Expertly blending political history and popular culture, it elegantly shows how Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement rode
powerful social currents to triumph in 1980. Philip Jenkins has produced a sophisticated and readable account of a pivotal period in recent history." --Michael W. Flamm, author of Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s
"An able contribution to the burgeoning historical literature on the 1970s and '80s, and a nice counterpoint to books like David Frum's How We Got Here."--Publishers Weekly
"Jenkins has produced a humdinger.... He provides an engrossing tour of the recesses of the American mind, demonstrating that the '70s were about more than 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Smokey and the Bandit.'"--Jacob Heilbrunn, New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant.... A rich, surprising reading of what Tom Wolfe in 1976 christened the Me Decade.... A bracing re-imagination of an era.... An important contribution to our understanding of post-sixties America."--Tim Cavanaugh, Reason
"Leaves the reader with a palpable sense of how the legacy of the 70's (or the anti-60's, as Mr. Jenkins terms the post-1975 years) reverberates to this day in America.... Mr. Jenkins not only emphasizes similarities 'between the economic situation then and the one that exists now'--namely, serious
deficits, lax fiscal discipline, rising energy prices and high spending on defense and national security--but also underscores similarities in the absolutist, Manichean language employed by both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Jenkins's bold idea that the 1970s (not the much emphasized 1960s and 1980s) was a pivotal decade is interesting."--The Progressive
"Jenkins effectively blends American politics and world events with the popular culture of the time. His introduction stands alone as a cogent political-social critique, though the entire book is a joy--and revelation--to read. This significant work of political history is highly recommended."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"It is common wisdom, of course, that the conservative turn of the early '80s represented a backlash against, and arepudiation of, the naive but hopeful values of the '60s. But Jenkins' intelligent and judicious account of the period is nevertheless enlightening, largely because of the care he
takes in identifying the deep themes that united Americans' attitudes toward perceived threats of varying natures and, one might have thought, quite distinct orders."--Troy Jollimore, San Francisco Chronicle
"An interpretive history whose depth and cogency may steadily increase as historical perspective lengthens."--Booklist
"This book addresses a question that haunts both the historical literature and the nation itself: how did the politically and culturally liberating promise of America in the sixties transform itself into the decade of reaction and denial that was the American eighties. In this thoughtful and
sophisticated examination, our eyes are opened to previously undiscovered continuities in political culture that invite a re-examination of the period in question, as well as re-evaluation of the path that has led us to our present moment. A highly provocative, and eloquent argument, well worth
pondering." --Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media? and When Presidents Lie
"In this thoughtful and provocative book, Philip Jenkins challenges the conventional wisdom about the 1960s and its legacy. Moving comfortably between pop culture and high politics, Jenkins not only forces us to rethink when the sixties ended and the seventies began, he calls into question many of
our basic assumptions about the period. This is an important, refreshingly creative, and highly readable look at recent American social and political history." --SteveGillon, The History Channel resident historian and author of Boomer Nation
"Decade of Nightmares offers an important reinterpretation of the 1970s and a compelling explanation of how America moved from Woodstock Nation to the Reagan Revolution. Expertly blending political history and popular culture, it elegantly shows how Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement rode
powerful social currents to triumph in 1980. Philip Jenkins has produced a sophisticated and readable account of a pivotal period in recent history." --Michael W. Flamm, author of Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s
"An able contribution to the burgeoning historical literature on the 1970s and '80s, and a nice counterpoint to books like David Frum's How We Got Here."--Publishers Weekly
"Jenkins has produced a humdinger.... He provides an engrossing tour of the recesses of the American mind, demonstrating that the '70s were about more than 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Smokey and the Bandit.'"--Jacob Heilbrunn, New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant.... A rich, surprising reading of what Tom Wolfe in 1976 christened the Me Decade.... A bracing re-imagination of an era.... An important contribution to our understanding of post-sixties America."--Tim Cavanaugh, Reason
"Leaves the reader with a palpable sense of how the legacy of the 70's (or the anti-60's, as Mr. Jenkins terms the post-1975 years) reverberates to this day in America.... Mr. Jenkins not only emphasizes similarities 'between the economic situation then and the one that exists now'--namely, serious
deficits, lax fiscal discipline, rising energy prices and high spending on defense and national security--but also underscores similarities in the absolutist, Manichean language employed by both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Jenkins's bold idea that the 1970s (not the much emphasized 1960s and 1980s) was a pivotal decade is interesting."--The Progressive
"Jenkins effectively blends American politics and world events with the popular culture of the time. His introduction stands alone as a cogent political-social critique, though the entire book is a joy--and revelation--to read. This significant work of political history is highly recommended."
--Library Journal (starred review)
"It is common wisdom, of course, that the conservative turn of the early '80s represented a backlash against, and arepudiation of, the naive but hopeful values of the '60s. But Jenkins' intelligent and judicious account of the period is nevertheless enlightening, largely because of the care he
takes in identifying the deep themes that united Americans' attitudes toward perceived threats of varying natures and, one might have thought, quite distinct orders."--Troy Jollimore, San Francisco Chronicle
"An interpretive history whose depth and cogency may steadily increase as historical perspective lengthens."--Booklist
"This book addresses a question that haunts both the historical literature and the nation itself: how did the politically and culturally liberating promise of America in the sixties transform itself into the decade of reaction and denial that was the American eighties. In this thoughtful and
sophisticated examination, our eyes are opened to previously undiscovered continuities in political culture that invite a re-examination of the period in question, as well as re-evaluation of the path that has led us to our present moment. A highly provocative, and eloquent argument, well worth
pondering." --Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media? and When Presidents Lie
"In this thoughtful and provocative book, Philip Jenkins challenges the conventional wisdom about the 1960s and its legacy. Moving comfortably between pop culture and high politics, Jenkins not only forces us to rethink when the sixties ended and the seventies began, he calls into question many of
our basic assumptions about the period. This is an important, refreshingly creative, and highly readable look at recent American social and political history." --SteveGillon, The History Channel resident historian and author of Boomer Nation
"Decade of Nightmares offers an important reinterpretation of the 1970s and a compelling explanation of how America moved from Woodstock Nation to the Reagan Revolution. Expertly blending political history and popular culture, it elegantly shows how Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement rode
powerful social currents to triumph in 1980. Philip Jenkins has produced a sophisticated and readable account of a pivotal period in recent history." --Michael W. Flamm, author of Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s
"An able contribution to the burgeoning historical literature on the 1970s and '80s, and a nice counterpoint to books like David Frum's How We Got Here."--Publishers Weekly