{"product_id":"grand-expectations-the-united-states-1945-1974-9780195117974","title":"Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974","description":"Beginning in 1945, America rocketed through a quarter-century of extraordinary economic growth, experiencing an amazing boom that soared to unimaginable heights in the 1960s. At one point, in the late 1940s, American workers produced 57 percent of the planet's steel, 62 percent of the oil, 80\u003cbr\u003epercent of the automobiles. The U.S. then had three-fourths of the world's gold supplies. English Prime Minister Edward Heath later said that the United States in the post-War era enjoyed the greatest prosperity the world has ever known. It was a boom that produced a national euphoria, a buoyant\u003cbr\u003etime of grand expectations and an unprecedented faith in our government, in our leaders, and in the American dream--an optimistic spirit which would be shaken by events in the '60s and '70s, and particularly by the Vietnam War. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNow, in \u003cem\u003eGrand Expectations\u003c\/em\u003e, James T. Patterson has written a highly readable and balanced work that weaves the major political, cultural, and economic events of the period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate. Here is an era teeming with memorable events--from the bloody\u003cbr\u003ecampaigns in Korea and the bitterness surrounding McCarthyism to the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, to the Vietnam War, Watergate, and Nixon's resignation. Patterson excels at portraying the amazing growth after World War II--the great building boom epitomized by Levittown\u003cbr\u003e(the largest such development in history) and the baby boom (which exploded literally nine months after V-J Day)--as well as the resultant buoyancy of spirit reflected in everything from streamlined toasters, to big, flashy cars, to the soaring, butterfly roof of TWA's airline terminal in New York.\u003cbr\u003eAnd he shows how this upbeat, can-do mood spurred grander and grander expectations as the era progressed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOf course, not all Americans shared in this economic growth, and an important thread running through the book is an informed and gripping depiction of the civil rights movement--from the electrifying \u003cem\u003eBrown v. Board of Education\u003c\/em\u003e decision, to the violent confrontations in Little Rock, Birmingham, and\u003cbr\u003eSelma, to the landmark civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965. Patterson also shows how the Vietnam War--which provoked LBJ's growing credibility gap, vast defense spending that dangerously unsettled the economy, and increasingly angry protests--and a growing rights revolution (including demands by\u003cbr\u003ewomen, Hispanics, the poor, Native Americans, and gays) triggered a backlash that widened hidden rifts in our society, rifts that divided along racial, class, and generational lines. And by Nixon's resignation, we find a national mood in stark contrast to the grand expectations of ten years earlier, \u003cbr\u003eone in which faith in our leaders and in the attainability of the American dream was greatly shaken. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Oxford History of the United States\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. \u003cem\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/em\u003e has praised it as the most distinguished series in\u003cbr\u003eAmerican historical scholarship, a series that synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book. Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this\u003cbr\u003erenowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-10751294\"\u003eJames T. Patterson\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/20\/1997\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 848\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.20w x 2.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195117974\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0195117972\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036060\"\u003eUnited States | 20th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames T. Patterson\u003c\/strong\u003e is Ford Foundation Professor of History at Brown University.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42686375887085,"sku":"9780195117974","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_00556c21-a3d7-4166-bdb4-7c26b7cfcc0f.jpg?v=1649776184","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/grand-expectations-the-united-states-1945-1974-9780195117974","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}