Picture this: the early '90s, with the Soviet Union out of the picture, Saddam Hussein on the ropes, and the U.S. strutting around like a peacock. But instead of a "kinder, gentler America," it's like someone flipped a switch, and chaos reigned supreme. From the Crown Heights riots to the rise of figures like David Duke and the advent of Rush Limbaugh's bombastic broadcasts, it's a wild ride. John Ganz tells the story of politics, economics, and culture in the 1990s and how the seeds for our current situations were sown, but he manages to make it enjoyable to read. It's definitely worth checking out, especially if your memories of those years are fuzzy or non-existent.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Took a little bit to get going with background information and then a series of related chapters made the rest of the book a breeze. Perfect for anyone looking to find out how events in the late 20th Century connect to today.

Great way to spend January 6.

First, as someone whose first political memories come from the 1992 election and surrounding events, I was really interested in this book. I'd also add that while scholarship about the 1990s is really now just starting, there had not been up to this point an analysis of the early 1990s and the changes that occurred. The shift from silent generation to baby boomer led government is a key factor for the ways in which America is governed, and the ensuing culture wars/political divisions throughout the decade.

The usual characters pop up here: presidential contenders, especially the losers of those contests, such as Patrick Buchanan. Buchanan's populist rhetoric has come more into focus with current events but Ganz does a great job looking at the surrounding context of his influence and message about the political discourse of the time. The analysis of David Duke was both useful and relevant, as I think he provided a template for some of the extremism that comes later.

Ganz's overarching message is that if we want to see where the metaphorical wheels come off, it has not just been in the past 10 years, or even this century. We have to see the late years of the 1900s as a bridge to the 21st in more than one way. We may not have recognized it at the time, but that is the power of history. The political tensions and divisions, along racial and socio-economic, as well as cultural, lines slowly developed into the "cold Civil War" as some refer to it today.