Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan

by Michael Barone

A broad account of how Americans shaped their politics through the decades since the Depression. In contrast to most contemporary political historians, Barone (senior writer, US news and world report ) argues that Americans have more often charted their political fortunes by cultural allegiances regional, ethnic, religious, rural, and urban than by economic struggles. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Genres: History, Politics, American History

805 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

Michael Barone, a political analyst and journalist, studies politics, American government, and campaigns and elections. The principal coauthor of the annual Almanac of American Politics (National Journal Group), he has written many books on American politics and history. Barone is also a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner. Barone has also written for many major market publications, including The Economist, The New York Times, The Detroit Press, American Enterprise and The Daily Telegraph of London.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1966 and Yale Law School in 1969.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of the U.S. from 1930 to 1990. Focuses about equally on politics and cultural changes. Looks at how the government grew during the Depression, and the consequences of that growth later on. The author is conservative, but he avoids the shrillness that later came to characterize much conservative writing. I thought the information about American culture in the first half of the book was especially interesting. It seemed like the author became more and more centered on politics, to the exclusion of culture, as the book went on.

[Tony Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very president-centric, but great in that area. Crammed with facts and finely recreated presidential election landscapes. All kinds of stuff that was important at the time and determined outcomes, but has since been mostly forgotten. Very informative and leaves you smarter about how things really went down. Theme is that economic status is only a secondary factor in American elections. Mostly events and culture are the shaping factors.

[Jfarley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barone is a political superhero, able to weave obscure congressional district data, birth rates and other obscure demographics into a sweeping history of American politics.



This book (and his other works) should be mandatory reading for anyone who even wants to pretend they are a political operative.

[Robertmagee32 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great bird's eye view of mainstream America's understanding of itself. It's one of the most well-written histories I've ever read but it doesn't add much to the conversation.