The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

by William Strauss

From the Arthurian Generation through today's Millennial Generation children, there have been twenty-four generations in the Anglo-American lineage. The first six were purely English. The next four were colonial, yet still heavily influenced by English society and politics. The eleventh (Awaken-ers, born 1701-1723) became the first distinctively American generation—the first whose name, birth years, and persona diverge significantly from peers in the United Kingdom. The Awakeners were also the first generation to be made up mostly of native-born Americans and, late in life, the first to know the U.S. nation and flag. So although today's Millennial children are the twenty-fourth in our full lineage of postmedieval generations, they are fourteenth in the American line.