Description
Book SynopsisDid America's fortieth president lead a conservative counter revolution that left liberalism gasping for air? The answer, for both his admirers and his detractors, is often "yes." This work covers Ronald Reagan's legacy taking us through the 1980s in ten year-by-year chapters.
Trade Review"A lively, sprawling work that sees Reagan's reflection in everything from '80s TV shows such as Dynasty to the rejection of 'New Coke' by consumers to the creation of CNN and USA TODAY... He may have disregarded the rise of AIDS and seemed clueless about the rise in homelessness during his watch, but he also helped create 'an Era of Good Feelings' that left most Americans feeling better about themselves and their country."--Susan Page, USA TODAY "Morning in America is the rarest of academic histories: insightful, energetic, and a joy to read."--Peter Schweizer, The New York Sun "[A] masterly study of Ronald Reagan's presidency--the best single book we have on his administration to date."--David Turner, Raleigh News & Observer "The main thing Troy has produced is a portrait of the United States in the 1980s in all of its color and texture... [T]he book is a mine of information on U.S. popular culture, presented by one who lived through those times."--Norman Webster, Montreal Gazette "A balanced, thoughtful, and thoroughly entertaining account of Reagan's legacy... This book is sure to become popular and deserves a large audience. Enthusiastically recommended."--Library Journal "A valuable and enjoyable book... Troy's readable book is impressive in its integration of political and social history, while he rightly recognizes that popular culture can provide an effective gauge of the public mood. Thus, he effectively uses the television series Hill Street Blues to illustrate attitudes towards crime and race, and throughout, he uses television, film, and popular music. Troy is anything but a Reagan cheerleader, and he stresses the still contentious nature of the Reagan record."--Philip Jenkins, Books & Culture "Reagan remains our national Rorschach test, a good guide to what we think about the issues of our time... With a year-by-year analysis of the 80's, set in the context of popular culture, Mr. Troy measures the social and cultural consequences of Reagan's free-market agenda. Optimism, individualism, consumerism and even hedonism promote prosperity. But they can--and Mr. Troy believes they did--dilute a sense of community and civic virtue, devalue a nation's social capital, and accelerate the descent into alienation and cynicism."--Glenn C. Altschuler, New York Observer "Troy not only captures Reagan the leader but also the watershed decade he dominated and defined."--Bill Pierce, Toronto Sun "Troy's book ... cannot help being engaging, packed as it is with memorabilia of the Reagan years... Troy ... makes a communitarian critique of the Reagan era. He is on solid ground in contending that America became more individualistic and materialistic under Regan, and also in noting that the trend predated and postdated his presidency."--Ramesh Ponnuru, Claremont Review of Books "One of Troy's key points is that our memory of Reagan makes his reign seem either more idyllic or more tyrannical than it was in reality... Gil Troy has given us a fascinating look at a crucial decade."--Timothy Barney, Rhetoric and Public Affairs
Table of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*Introduction, pg. 1*1980 Cleveland, pg. 24*1981 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, pg. 50*1982 Hill Street, pg. 84*1983 Beaufort, South Carolina, pg. 115*1984 Los Angeles, pg. 147*1985 Brooklyn, New York, pg. 175*1986 Wall Street, pg. 204*1987 Mourning in America, pg. 235*1988 Stanford, pg. 265*1989 Kennebunkport, Maine, pg. 297*1990 Boston, pg. 325*A Note on Method and Sources, pg. 349*A Guide to Abbreviations in Notes, pg. 357*Notes, pg. 359*Acknowledgments, pg. 393*Index, pg. 397
