A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America
Mar 2024 · Harvard University Press
Ebook
256
Pages
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
Longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award in Nonfiction
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year
“Sweeping...A new way to make sense not only of the past, but of the contemporary culture wars.”
—New York Times Book Review
“A provocative culmination of Slotkin’s field-defining arguments on the place of violence in creating America.” —Kathleen Belew
“Brisk, bold, and thought-provoking.” —Daniel Lazare, Arts Fuse
“[An] exciting and detailed new decoder ring of a book...While it is usually hyperbolic to claim that a book will change your life, this one may well have a permanent effect on how you consume and think about American political news.” —Tom Zoellner, Los Angeles Review of Books
Red America and Blue America are so divided they could be two different countries, with wildly diverging views of why government exists and who counts as American. Their ideologies are grounded in different versions of American history, endorsing irreconcilable visions of patriotism and national identity.
A Great Disorder is a bold, urgent work that helps us make sense of today’s culture wars through a brilliant reconsideration of America’s foundational myths and their use in contemporary politics. Richard Slotkin identifies five key narratives that have shaped our conception of what it means to be American: the myths of the Frontier, the Founding, the Civil War (with dueling views of it as Liberation or the Lost Cause), and the Good War. Today, Slotkin argues, Trump and his MAGA followers play up a frontier-inspired hostility to the federal government and rally around Confederate symbols to champion a racially exclusive definition of American nationality; meanwhile, Blue America takes its cue from the protest movements of the 1960s, envisioning a limitlessly pluralistic country in which the federal government is the ultimate enforcer of rights and opportunities. With these opposing perspectives, American history—and the foundations of our democracy—has become a battleground. It remains to be seen which vision will prevail.
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year
“Sweeping...A new way to make sense not only of the past, but of the contemporary culture wars.”
—New York Times Book Review
“A provocative culmination of Slotkin’s field-defining arguments on the place of violence in creating America.” —Kathleen Belew
“Brisk, bold, and thought-provoking.” —Daniel Lazare, Arts Fuse
“[An] exciting and detailed new decoder ring of a book...While it is usually hyperbolic to claim that a book will change your life, this one may well have a permanent effect on how you consume and think about American political news.” —Tom Zoellner, Los Angeles Review of Books
Red America and Blue America are so divided they could be two different countries, with wildly diverging views of why government exists and who counts as American. Their ideologies are grounded in different versions of American history, endorsing irreconcilable visions of patriotism and national identity.
A Great Disorder is a bold, urgent work that helps us make sense of today’s culture wars through a brilliant reconsideration of America’s foundational myths and their use in contemporary politics. Richard Slotkin identifies five key narratives that have shaped our conception of what it means to be American: the myths of the Frontier, the Founding, the Civil War (with dueling views of it as Liberation or the Lost Cause), and the Good War. Today, Slotkin argues, Trump and his MAGA followers play up a frontier-inspired hostility to the federal government and rally around Confederate symbols to champion a racially exclusive definition of American nationality; meanwhile, Blue America takes its cue from the protest movements of the 1960s, envisioning a limitlessly pluralistic country in which the federal government is the ultimate enforcer of rights and opportunities. With these opposing perspectives, American history—and the foundations of our democracy—has become a battleground. It remains to be seen which vision will prevail.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
