Author: Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer
Title: Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974
Publication Info: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2019]
Summary/Review:
I was born near the end of 1973, so this book is essentially the history of America during my lifetime. The authors are professors at Princeton University who built the book out of course on recent American history. I’m not familiar with Zelizer, but Kruse has established himself as a leading public historian by sharing facts and debunking myths on Twitter. The central thesis is that the polarized politics of the United States began in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal (which disillusioned Americans faith in government, something that is ironically exploited by Nixon’s own party) as well as the revolutions of civil rights, gender, and sexuality and their conservative counter-revolutions.
The book is a thorough history of the past 45 years, and I had a lot of “oh yeah, I remember that!” moments. I have two criticisms of the book in general. One, is that it reads like a laundry list of events with very little analysis. Two, it is a top-down approach focusing on the actions of Presidents and Congresses as opposed to the greater societal actions. I understand it would be a much thicker book if these things were included, but the instances in the book that offer analysis and history of the people are much richer than the book overall.
That being said, this is an excellent summary of how we got to where we are in the United States. Every living American has lived at least partly in the period of time covered here and would benefit from reading about our recent history.
Recommended books:
- Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America by Nancy Maclean
- The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark
- The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle by Lillian Faderman
Rating: ****
Panorama of the Mountains 