Transforming America: Politics and Culture in the Reagan Years

In this rigorous history, professor and author Collins (More: The Politics of Economic Growth in Postwar America) takes a look at the reign of Ronald Reagan, who reinvigorated a lethargic post-Carter nation with a lasting sense of optimism at the same time he accelerated the growing schism between liberal and conservative proponents-his two most powerful legacies. In a clear, succinct and balanced fashion, Collins revisits a time in which postmodernism and multiculturalism emerged as prevailing schools of thought among academia while, outside the ivory tower, Reagan's optimism infected ""bourgeois"" America. Though he's no apologist, Collins clearly is an admirer of Reagan, a fact he keeps in check, sticking to conventional wisdom in his praise for Reagan's Cold War victory, but adding refreshing context to other aspects of the Reagan mythology. For example, while admitting that Reagan was guilty of not using the bully pulpit to fight the scourge of AIDS, he did increase funding for AIDS research each year of his presidency, while his apparent lack of interest helped to mobilize a precedent-setting level of activism on AIDS sufferers' behalf. In this way, Collins allows the most famous champion of conservatism to emerge as a character in a scene, showing how he was but one part of the cultural forces which ultimately gave birth to the culturally and politically polarized America of today.