The Sixties and the End of Modern America

by David Steigerwald

This is an historical narrative that describes and analyzes the changes and excitement of the 60s. The author sees the period as one that proved Americans can do better than they have done in the "me-decade" of the 80s. He proposes that it was a time that rejected complacency in order to recover a zeal for the pursuit of excellence, for the nation to re-awaken to a sense of national mission and ideals; and a time when artists, intellectuals and the young offered alternatives to what the nation had become. The book focuses on what this period meant in US history, and addresses current issues, bringing an historical perspective to bear on issues of race, ethnicity and gender, among others.

Genres: History

Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[D. Neuser · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable though dated survey. Steigerwald analyzes the turbulent decade of the Sixties primarily through the lens of postmodernism; he argues that America's position as the world's leading "modern" society was undermined and hollowed out in the Sixties by the transition away from the industrial economy. Much of this analysis rings true, but as the conservative 1990s recede into the distance (a book published in 1995 is closer in time to Watergate than to this reader in 2023!) certain developments definitely appear in a different perspective. A more trivial but distinctly annoying flaw: terrible copy-editing, especially the habitual misspelling of names.