God's Country: America in the 50's

by J. Ronald Oakley

This is a comprehensive look back at one of the century's most explosive decades—an era that saw the birth of the ColdWar, the ban the bomb movement, television, the youth culture, drug culture, space travel and more.

Genres: History

516 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. With tremendous difficulty the author maintained a rather well balanced while chronicling a very divisive era.
I found this work to be quite thought provoking and timely. For those attempting to understand the problems of the world in the 21st century, I suggest evaluating the origins of them by reading this book.

[Bjipson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a topic of interest to me, and Bill Bryson cited the book in his memoir, so I decided to read it for myself. It turned out to be more detailed than I wanted, although Oakley clearly did his research, especially on Eisenhower's administration, as well as on Truman's, and just a little taste of Kennedy.
Definitely recommend to any high school student researching almost any topic related to the 50s in America, from politics to music to the economy and on and on.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you lived in the 1950's this is a great trip down memory lane.
If you are much younger, this is a very good quick read to give you a sense of the era. It is not a tome so you will not be trudging through the era.