Description
Book SynopsisThe third edition of Dr. Gary A. Donaldson’s highly successful textbook The Making of Modern America, introduces students to the cultural, social and political paths the United States has traveled from the end of WWII to the present day. While deftly cataloguing the sweeping changes and major events in America from “Dewey Defeats Truman” through the election of Donald Trump, this newly updated edition never loses touch with that American history taking place at the level of the people. This edition details not just the United States’ rich cultural history, but elegantly repositions it as integral to our understanding of any portion of this country’s past. Donaldson provides a factual foundation for students and then pushes them to interpret those facts, framing the discussions essential to any complete study of American history.
Trade Review“The third edition of Gary A. Donaldson’s The Making of Modern America is a splendid history of the country’s complex saga from its post-World War II adjustments, to the era of presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Donaldson punctuates each of his lucid and fast-paced chapters with a reading, a document, and questions—pedagogy that supplements or complicates his narrative. Students and their teachers will welcome Donaldson’s sure-handed analysis of America’s modern era—a time of momentous challenges to its status as the world’s richest and most innovative country.” -- John David Smith, Charles H. Stone Distinguished Professor of American History, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
“The Making of Modern America does an outstanding job of capturing postwar America’s Zeitgeist through a comprehensive but clear treatment of the era’s personalities, politics, and popular culture. The Making of Modern America’s clarity and judgment would fit well into the second half of the U.S. History survey, and the work would serve very well for an upper-level course on the United States since the end of World War II. Finally, an integrated postwar textbook for undergraduates!” -- Jeffrey P. Moran, Professor of History, University of Kansas
Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Postwar Adjustments Chapter 2: The Early Cold War Chapter 3: Affluence and Anxiety: America in the 1950s Chapter 4: The Eisenhower Presidency Chapter 5: Kennedy at Home and Abroad Chapter 6: “We Shall Continue” Chapter 7: The Nation in the 1960s Chapter 8: Out of the 1960s and into the 1970s: The Agony of Change Chapter 9: America in the 1970s: The Post-Watergate Years Chapter 10: The Reagan Years Chapter 11: The Kinder, Gentler Conservatism of George H. W. Bush Chapter 12: Bill Clinton’s America Chapter 13: America after the New Millennium Chapter 14: The Second Bush and Obama: From the War on Terrorism to the Audacity of Hope Selected Bibliography Index About the Author
