Nixonland by Rick Perlstein is a detailed and fascinating chronicle of the years 1965-1972, focusing on the rise of Richard Nixon and the transformation of American politics during that era. Perlstein delves into the toxic blend of resentment, paranoia, and cultural backlash that characterized Nixon's presidency, culminating in the Watergate scandal. Through meticulous research and analysis, Perlstein paints a vivid picture of a country divided by race, patriotism, and the Vietnam War, showcasing the mood of anger and resentment that permeated American society during that turbulent time.
Perlstein's writing style in Nixonland is engaging and immersive, offering a wonkish biography, variegated character study, cultural critique, and political forensic analysis. By drawing on primary sources such as the infamous Nixon Tapes, Perlstein provides readers with a nuanced understanding of Nixon's psyche and the political landscape of the 1960s. The book skillfully weaves together narratives of political intrigue, social upheaval, and personal ambition, offering a comprehensive exploration of how Nixon's presidency shaped modern American politics.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Nixonland include discussions of political corruption, racism, violence during protests, and the brutality associated with social upheaval.
From The Publisher:
"Perlstein...aims here at nothing less than weaving a tapestry of social upheaval. His success is dazzling." -Los Angeles Times
"Both brilliant and fun, a consuming journey back into the making of modern politics." -Jon Meacham
"Nixonland is a grand historical epic. Rick Perlstein has turned a story we think we know-American politics between the opposing presidential landslides of 1964 and 1972-into an often-surprising and always-fascinating new narrative." -Jeffrey Toobin
Rick Perlstein's bestselling account of how the Nixon era laid the groundwork for the political divide that marks our country today.
Told with vivid urgency and sharp political insight, Nixonland recaptures America's turbulent 1960s and early 1970s and reveals how Richard Nixon rose from the political grave to seize and hold the presidency of the United States. Perlstein's epic account begins in the blood and fire of the 1965 Watts riots, nine months after Lyndon Johnson's historic landslide victory over Barry Goldwater appeared to herald a permanent liberal consensus in the United States. Yet the next year, scores of liberals were tossed out of Congress, America was more divided than ever, and a disgraced politician was on his way to a shocking comeback: Richard Nixon. Between 1965 and 1972 America experienced no less than a second civil war. Out of its ashes, the political world we know now was born. Filled with prodigious research and driven by a powerful narrative, Rick Perlstein's magisterial account of how it all happened confirms his place as one of our country's most celebrated historians.
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About the Author:
Rick Perlstein is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan; Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, a New York Times bestseller picked as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by over a dozen publications; and Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, which won the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Award for history and appeared on the best books of the year lists of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. His essays and book reviews have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Village Voice, and Slate, among others. A contributing editor and board member of In These Times magazine, he lives in Chicago.
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