More Equal Than Others: America from Nixon to the New Century

by Godfrey Hodgson

During the past quarter century, free-market capitalism was recognized not merely as a successful system of wealth creation, but as the key determinant of the health of political and cultural democracy. Now, renowned British journalist and historian Godfrey Hodgson takes aim at this popular view in a book that promises to become one of the most important political histories of our time. More Equal Than Others looks back on twenty-five years of what Hodgson calls "the conservative ascendancy" in America, demonstrating how it has come to dominate American politics.


Hodgson disputes the notion that the rise of conservatism has spread affluence and equality to the American people. Quite the contrary, he writes, the most distinctive feature of American society in the closing years of the twentieth century was its great and growing inequality. He argues that the combination of conservative ideology and corporate power and dominance by mass media obsessed with lifestyle and celebrity have caused America to abandon much of what was best in its past. In fact, he writes, income and wealth inequality have become so extreme that America now resembles the class-stratified societies of early twentieth-century Europe.



More Equal Than Others addresses a broad range of issues, with chapters on politics, the new economy, immigration, technology, women, race, and foreign policy, among others. A fitting sequel to the author's critically acclaimed America In Our Time , More Equal Than Others is not only an outstanding synthesis of history, but a trenchant commentary on the state of the American Dream.

Genres: History, American History, Politics, Nonfiction

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Godfrey Hodgson was a White House correspondent for a London newspaper with a desk in the Washington Post newsroom during the Kennedy and Johnson years. He has worked as a reporter for print and television throughout the United States and has written sixteen books, most dealing with people and issues in American politics. He taught at Oxford University and lives in Oxfordshire, U.K.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very important, vital insight here from a non-native. And THAT should be reason alone to read this book. It is written by Godfrey Hodgson, "Britain’s most thoughtful observer or our national scene" (Todd Gitlin), a man with a more objective view of America's problems. He speaks of an America that has gone counter egalitarian to a society that looks to its own, developing into an exclusive gentry that looks only to its own. Just look at the underprivileged and how they've been treated by the current, conservative administration (remember Katrina?). Look to the loss of pensions, affordable health care, and other indicators. An important book that must be read by all. One that goes beyond mere self-indulgent, self-entertainment.