Coined in 1941 byTimemagazine publisher Henry Luce, the twentieth century has been called "America's Century" in anticipation that American values would continue to dominate and spread throughout the world stage as it had in the first part of the century.
This title is a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. political system from 1900 to 2000, a period of unprecedented growth and power and one punctuated by crises and division.
Part One focuses on the "Progressive Order" which emerged with the progressive movement at the beginning of the century and lasted until the stock market crash that lead to the Great Depression.
Part Two begins in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal ushered in a era of big government liberalism which lasted until the late 1960s when it was undermined by dissension over Vietnam and racial and political turmoil.
Part Three is called "Divided Order" and captures the last third of the century when the U.S. political system was characterized by hyper-partisanship, particularly when the White House and Congress were controlled by opposing parties.
The issues of class, gender and race are explored as important formative influences in the course of American history, as was the role of American workers, immigrants, women, and African-Americans.