cover image Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920

Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920

John J. Cooper. W. W. Norton & Company, $19.95 (432pp) ISBN 978-0-393-95655-9

In a richly textured narrative, Cooper describes political, economic, social and diplomatic developments in the United States during the first two decades of the century, an era dominated by two dynamic presidents: Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. The period witnessed America's involvement in WW I, the building of the Panama Canal, the invention of the airplane and the radio, mass production of automobiles, the first civil rights organizations, women's suffrage, the inauguration of income tax, and the emergence of mass journalism, professional sports and movie stars. Cooper ( The Warrior and the Priest ) delineates the opposing stands taken by major political parties on economic and social issues, and traces the prolonged debate over international activism versus isolationism. Illustrated. (Apr.)