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The Way We Never Were

2017-03-06T00:07:46Z

SGuest:

{{Infobox book
| name = The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
| author = Stephanie Coontz
| publisher = Basic Books
| pub_date = 10-06-1993
| pages = 391
| isbn = 0465090974
| image = [[File:Cover thewayweneverwere.jpg|200px|alt=Cover]]
}}
Without fail, each presidential election we are treated to doomsday outbursts from outraged politicians and their constituents, touting a desire for America to return to the golden days of yesteryear. The days of hoop skirts, moral superiority, malt shakes and guys that still say “golly gee.” But are the good ole days a realistic goal or simply a lofty romanticizing of the past? Author Stephanie Coontz explores the American obsession with the good old days and the nostalgia trap in her book ''The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap''. By examining two centuries of American family dynamics she manages to shred some of the most pervasive myths and down-right lies that plague American families. With each generation you are bound to hear someone referencing how moral values have deteriorated, the family unit is fractured, and times were better decades ago. Stephanie Coontz easily shatters those myths by utilizing historical facts, coupled with sociology and psychology based facts.

The 391 page book is separated into eleven chapters. The first three chapters focus on defining family crisis, American families in the 1950’s and myths about gender, social dependence, interdependence, the dangers of independence and interdependence, and the growing importance of love that evolved in the 1950s. The third chapter discusses masculine and feminine identity and the contradictions of love. One of the most common myths dispelled in the first three chapters is the myth that Americans have wholly forgotten about extended family kinship, and have allowed the “parent-child bonds to lapse.” According to Coontz, in 1993 (when this book was released) 54% of adults regularly visit their parents, and 68% regularly speak with their parents via telephone. Over 90% claim to have a close relationship with their mother, while 78% say that they’re quite close to their grandparents. According to statistical evidence, it appears that family units have actually grown closer, not further apart. To suggest otherwise is purely fictional (pg. 43).

The next three chapters “We Always Stood on Our Own Two Feet,” “Strong Families, the Foundation of a Virtuous Society: Family Values and Civic Responsibility,” and “A Man’s Home is His Castle: The Family and Outside Intervention,” focus on the common myths of self-reliance, the New Deal and family, and the common myth that family values and a virtuous society have all but vanished. Millennials are constantly reminded by baby boomers that in their day (and previous generations), people worked harder and never asked for a handout. Using historical data, Coontz proves this myth to be inaccurate as well. She cites the many bills passed in the early 19th century that benefitted poor pioneers that would have ordinarily starved to death without the help of government handouts. Coontz states that “…self-reliance is one of the most cherished American values,” but just how self-reliant American’s were in the past is grossly over exaggerated. Another popular myth that emerged in the 1980's was the myth of the erosion of a virtuous society and family values. Politicians touted that the past 20 years had given way to a society plagued with immoral families, very similar to the way Americans panicked during the Gilded Age. Both moments in history were met with unobtainable moralistic goals. During this time, families are also faced intensified scrutiny of their private lives. This unrealistic expectation of family moral values made “private relations more problematic than ever” (pg. 121).

The final four chapters tackle controversial topics of marriage, sex, reproduction - looking at parenting from a realistic perspective, the myths of the black family collapse, and manufactured “family values” myths of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The dispelled myths of the collapse of the black family is very timely, considering this dooms day narrative is on constant rotation on 24/7 news channels. Coontz argues that this myth feeds into the racist stereotypes of the black family, and largely ignores the complexities and diversity of the African-American family. Both liberals and conservatives are guilty of blaming the “disintegration of the black family” for the economic and social distress that African-Americans face; a trend that occurs every decade or so, has occurred for over 200 years. It’s obvious that a book such ''The Way We Never Were'' is very timely and still remains relevant today. Coontz manages to cover many regurgitated arguments that aren’t only spouted by politicians, but also by our colleagues, family and friends. Arguments from working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers, helicopter parenting, the erosion of family values, etc. Coontz argues that despite the so-called “crisis in the family,” and constant societal encouragement to become more individualistic, most Americans crave close familial relationships and actively pursue those tight bonds. To suggest otherwise is simply pessimistic thinking.

''The Way We Never Were'' is a fascinating read, filled with statistical and historical facts that truly engages the reader from beginning to end. Though Coontz manages to cover several broad subjects, such as feminism, parenting, black familial myths, morals, love and gender roles, the book never feels rushed or lacking in in-depth research. Coontz never chastises or speaks condescendingly toward Americans who have bought into the artificial façade of American families. Instead, she factually shatters the myth that past American families were idyllic and perfect. Many of the trials and tribulations that families face in the twenty-first century were also common issues that families from the past experience. However, for some reason, we tend to romanticize the past, rather than pointing out the glaring difficulties and less than idyllic situations. In many ways, the past was darker and less inviting as our current environment.

Coontz’s sources are as diverse as the chapters in her book. She relies upon Newsweek magazine, historical biographies and autobiographies, women’s history scholarly writings, parenting magazines, political science magazines, pop-culture magazines, and newspapers to name a few. At the end of ''The Way We Never Were'', she breaks down her sources per chapter, rather than the traditional bibliography or annotated bibliography. ''The Way We Never Were'' does not contain pictures, maps, graphs, or any form of artwork, yet it manages to maintain the readers attention despite the lack of imagery. Though it relies heavily on statistical and historical information, this book does not read as a purely academic book. Coontz manages to blend the impossible; academic, scholarly facts with entertainment. Dispelling common myths that most Americans believe to be factual, makes Coontz’s book provocative, stimulating, and brilliant; thereby making ''The Way We Never Were'' a must read.

[[Category:Twentieth Century United States]]
[[Category:Stephanie Coontz]]
[[Category:Wikify]]
[[Category:Book Summaries]]

The Way We Never Were

2017-02-17T03:06:51Z

SGuest: Created page with "{{Infobox book | name = The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap | author = Stephanie Coontz | publisher = Basic Books | pub_date..."

{{Infobox book
| name = The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
| author = Stephanie Coontz
| publisher = Basic Books
| pub_date = 10-06-1993
| pages = 391
| isbn = 0465090974
| image = [[File:Cover thewayweneverwere.jpg|200px|alt=Cover]]
}}
Without fail, each presidential election we are treated to doomsday outbursts from outraged politicians and their constituents, touting a desire for America to return to the golden days of yesteryear. The days of hoop skirts, moral superiority, malt shakes and guys that still say “golly gee.” But are the good ole days a realistic goal or simply a lofty romanticizing of the past? Author Stephanie Coontz explores the American obsession with the good old days and the nostalgia trap in her book ''The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap''. By examining two centuries of the American family dynamics she manages to shred some of the most pervasive myths and down-right lies that plague American families. With each generation you are bound to hear someone referencing how moral values have deteriorated, the family unit is fractured, and times were better decades ago. Stephanie Coontz easily shatters those myths by utilizing historical facts, coupled with sociology and psychology based facts.

The 391 page book is separated into eleven chapters. The first three chapters focus on defining family crisis, American families in the 1950’s and myths about gender, social dependence, interdependence, the dangers of independence and interdependence, and the growing importance of love that evolved in the 1950’s. The third chapter discusses masculine and feminine identity and the contradictions of love. One of the most common myths dispelled in the first three chapters is the myth that Americans have wholly forgotten about extended family kinship, and have allowed the “parent-child bonds lapse.” According to Coontz, in 1993 (when this book was released) 54% of adults regularly visit their parents, and 68% regularly speak with their parents via telephone. Over 90% claim to have a close relationship with their mother, while 78% say that they’re quite close to their grandparents. According to statistical evidence, it appears that family units have actually grown closer, not further apart. To suggest otherwise is purely fictional (pg. 43).

The next three chapters “We Always Stood on Our Own Two Feet,” “Strong Families, the Foundation of a Virtuous Society: Family Values and Civic Responsibility,” and “A Man’s Home is His Castle: The Family and Outside Intervention,” focus on the common myths of self-reliance, the New Deal and family, and the common myth that family values and a virtuous society have all but vanished. Millennials are constantly reminded by baby boomers that in their day (and previous generations), people worked harder and never asked for a handout. Using historical data, Coontz proves this myth to be inaccurate as well. She cites the many bills passed in the early 19th century that benefitted poor pioneers that would have ordinarily starved to death without the help of government handouts. Coontz states that “…self-reliance is one of the most cherished American values,” but just how self-reliant American’s were in the past is grossly over exaggerated. Another popular myth that emerged in the 1980's was the myth of the erosion of a virtuous society and family values. Politicians touted that the past 20 years had given way to a society plagued with low moral families, very similar to the way American’s panicked during the Gilded Age. Both moments in history were met with unobtainable moralistic goals. During this time, families are also faced intensified scrutiny of their private lives. This unrealistic expectations of family moral values made “private relations more problematic than ever” (pg. 121).

The final four chapters tackle controversial topics of marriage, sex, reproduction - looking at parenting from a realistic perspective, the myths of the black family collapse, and manufactured “family values” myths of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The dispelled myths of the collapse of the black family is very timely, considering this dooms day narrative is on constant rotation on 24/7 news channels. Coontz argues that this myth feeds into the racist stereotypes of the black family, and largely ignores the complexities and diversity of the African-American family. Both liberals and conservatives are guilty of blaming the “disintegration of the black family” for the economic and social distress that African-American’s face; a trend that occurs every decade or so, has occurred for over 200 years. It’s obvious that a book such ''The Way We Never Were'' is very timely and still remains relevant today. Coontz manages to cover many regurgitated arguments that aren’t only spouted by politicians, but also by our colleagues, family and friends. Arguments from working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers, helicopter parenting, the erosion of family values, etc. Coontz argues that despite the so-called “crisis in the family,” and constant societal encouragement to become more individualistic, most Americans crave close familial relationships and actively pursue those tight bonds. To suggest otherwise is simply pessimistic thinking.

''The Way We Never Were'' is a fascinating read, filled with statistical and historical facts that truly engages the reader from beginning to end. Though Coontz manages to cover several broad subjects, such as feminism, parenting, black familial myths, morals, love, gender roles, etc., the book never feels rushed or lacking in in-depth research. Coontz never chastises or speaks condescendingly toward Americans who have bought into the artificial façade of American families. Instead, she factually shatters the myth that past American families were idyllic, and perfect. Many of the trials and tribulations that families face in the twenty-first century were also common issues that families from the past experience. However, for some reason, we tend to romanticize the past, rather than pointing out the glaring difficulties and less than idyllic situations. In many ways, the past was darker, and less inviting as our current environment.

Coontz’s sources are as diverse as the chapters in her book. She relies upon Newsweek magazine, historical biographies and autobiographies, women’s history scholarly writings, parenting magazines, political science magazines, pop-culture magazines, and newspapers to name a few. At the end of ''The Way We Never Were'', she breaks down her sources per chapter, rather than the traditional bibliography or annotated bibliography. ''The Way We Never Were'' does not contain pictures, maps, graphs, or any form of artwork, yet it manages to maintain the readers attention despite the lack of imagery. Though it relies heavily on statistical and historical information, this book does not read as a purely academic book. Coontz manages to blend the impossible; academic, scholarly facts with entertainment. Dispelling common myths that most Americans believe to be factual, makes Coontz’s book provocative, stimulating, and brilliant; thereby making ''The Way We Never Were'' a must read.

[[Category:Twentieth Century United States]]
[[Category:Stephanie Coontz]]
[[Category:Wikify]]
[[Category:Book Summaries]]

File:Cover thewayweneverwere.jpg

2017-02-17T02:55:19Z

SGuest:

Twentieth Century United States

2017-02-17T02:27:00Z

SGuest: Using historical facts, and statistical data, Stephanie Coontz shatters the pessimistic myths of the collapse of the fabric of the American family. Coontz discovers that the American family was never as idyllic as we dreamed.

==Book Summaries==
* Donna Alvah. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/women-and-children-first-the-importance-of-gender-and-military-families-in-the-cold-war-era/ Unofficial Ambassadors: American Military Families Overseas and the Cold War, 1946-1965] (2007).
* Luis Alvarez. [[The Power of the Zoot|The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance during World War II]] (2008).
* Karen Anderson. [[Wartime Women|Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women During World War II]] (1981).
* Michael Aronson. [[Nickelodeon City|Nickelodeon City: Pittsburgh at the Movies, 1905-1929]] (2008).
* Eric Avila. [[Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight|Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles]] (2004).
* Beth Bailey. [[America’s Army|America’s Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force]] (2009).
* Beth Bailey & David Farber. [[The First Strange Place|The First Strange Place: The Alchemy of Race and Sex in World War II Hawaii]] (1992).
* Beth Bailey. [[From Front Porch to Back Seat|From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America]] (1989).
* Mark Brilliant. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/californication-race-ethnicity-and-unity-in-twentieth-century-california/ Californication: Race, Ethnicity, and Unity in Twentieth Century California] (2012).
* Amy Bridges. [[Morning Glories]] (1999).
* Laura Briggs. [[Reproducing Empire|Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico]] (2002).
* Alan Brinkley. [[Voices of Protest|Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, & the Great Depression]] (1983).
* Charlotte Brooks. [[Alien Neighbors, Foreign Friends|Alien Neighbors, Foreign Friends: Asian Americans, Housing, and the Transformation of Urban California]] (2009).
* Catherine Fisher Collins. [[The Imprisonment of African American Women| The Imprisonment of African American Women: Causes, Conditions, and Future Implications]] (1997).
* Robert Caro. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/dog-days-classics-robert-caros-controversial-portrait-of-robert-moses-and-new-york/ The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York](1974)
* Shawn Clements. [[Deaf in America|Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture]](1988).
* Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/dog-days-classics-political-boss-and-midwestern-pharaoh-richard-j-daleys-chicago-legacy/ American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for the Nation and Chicago] (2001)
* Lizabeth Cohen. [[A Consumers’ Republic|A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America]] (2003).
* Lizabeth Cohen. [[Making a New Deal|Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939]] (2008).
* Stephanie Coontz. [[The Way We Never Were|The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap]] (1992).
* Nancy F. Cott. [[Public Vows|Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation]] (2002).
* Pete Daniel, [[Lost Revolutions|Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s]] (2000)
* Mike Davis. [[City of Quartz|City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles]] (2006).
* Mike Davis & Michael Sprinker. [[Magical Urbanism|Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US Big City]] (2001).
* Michael J. Dear. [[The Postmodern Urban Condition]] (2001).
* Robert C. Donnelly. [[Dark Rose]] (2011).
* Steven Erie. [[Globalizing L.A.|Globalizing L.A.: Trade, Infrastructure, and Regional Development]] (2004).
* Steven P. Erie. [[Beyond Chinatown|Beyond Chinatown: The Metropolitan Water District, Growth, and the Environment in Southern California]] (2006).
* Elizabeth Ewen. [[Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars]] (1985).
* Dannelly Farrow. [[Dixie's Daughters]] (2003).
* Barbara Ferman. [[Challenging the Growth Machine|Challenging the Growth Machine: Neighborhood Politics in Chicago and Pittsburgh]] (1996).
* Marcie Ferris and Mark Greenberg. [[Jewish Roots in Southern Soil|Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History]] (2006).
* John M. Findlay. [[Magic Lands|Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture After 1940]] (1993).
* Steven Gregory. [[Black Corona|Black Corona: Race and the Politics of Place in an Urban Community]] (1999).
* Jason Hackworth. [[The Neoliberal City|The Neoliberal City: Governance, Ideology, and Development in American Urbanism]] (2006).
* William Ivy Hair. [[Carnival of Fury|Carnival of Fury: Robert Charles and the New Orleans Race Riot of 1900]] (2008).
* Tona J. Hangen. [[Redeeming the Dial|Redeeming the Dial: Radio, Religion, and Popular Culture in America]] (2013).
* Andrew Hartman. [[A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars]] (2015)
* Chester W. Hartman. [[Yerba Buena|Yerba Buena: land grab and community resistance in San Francisco,]] (1974).
* Georgina Hickey. [[Hope and Danger in the New South City|Hope and Danger in the New South City: Working-Class Women and Urban Development in Atlanta, 1890-1940]] (2005).
* Richard Hofstadter. [[The American Political Tradition|The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it]] (1989).
* Daniel Horowitz. [[Betty Friedan and the Making of “The Feminine Mystique”|Betty Friedan and the Making of “The Feminine Mystique”: The American Left, the Cold War, and Modern Feminism]] (2000).
* John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle. [[Lots of Parking|Lots of Parking: Land Use in a Car Culture]] (2004).
* Daniel Martinez HoSang. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/erasing-race-whiteness-california-and-the-colorblind-bind/ Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives and the Making of Postwar California](2010)
* Jonathan Hughes (Editor)& Simon Sadler (Editor).[[Non-Plan|Non-Plan: Essays on Freedom, Participation and Change in Modern Architecture and Urbanism]] (2000).
* Daniel Hurewitz. [[Bohemian Los Angeles|Bohemian Los Angeles: and the Making of Modern Politics]] (2007).
* Marilynn S. Johnson. [[The Second Gold Rush|The Second Gold Rush: Oakland and the East Bay in World War II]] (1994).
* Sharon Foster Jones. [[Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Avenue: A History]] (2012)
* Tony Judt. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/neoliberalisms-license-to-ill/ Ill Fares the Land] (2011).
* Larry D. Kramer. [[The People Themselves: Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Review]] (2004).
* Joel Kotkin. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/americas-ace-in-the-hole-is-of-course-its-awesomeness/ The Next Hundred Million:America in 2050] (2010)
* Kevin M. Kruse. [[White Flight|White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism]] (2007).
* Matthew D. Lassiter. [[The Silent Majority|The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South]] (2007).
*Gary L. Lehring. [[Officially Gay|The Political Construction of Sexuality by the U. S. Military]] (2003).
* William R. Leach. [[Land of Desire|Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture]] (1994).
* Michael F. Logan. [[Fighting Sprawl and City Hall|Fighting Sprawl and City Hall: Resistance to Urban Growth in the Southwest]] (1995).
* Fredrik Logevall. [[Choosing War|Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam]] (1999).
* Roger W. Lotchin. [[Fortress California, 1910-1961|Fortress California, 1910-1961: From Warfare to Welfare]] (2002).
* Lisa Lowe. [[Immigrant Acts|Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics]] (1996).
* Robert S. Lynd & Helen Merrell Lynd. [[Middletown|Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture]] (1959).
* Catherine Lutz. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/3187/ Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century] (2001).
* Nancy MacLean. [[Freedom Is Not Enough|Freedom Is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace]] (2008).
* Isaac Martin. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/stalking-the-tax-man-the-pervasive-influence-of-the-property-tax-revolt/ The Permanent Tax Revolt: How Property Tax Transformed America] (2008).
* Douglas Massey & Nancy Denton. [[American Apartheid|American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass]] (1993).
* Elaine Tyler May. [[America and The Pill|America and The Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation]] (2010).
* Carol Lynn McKibben. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/3187/ Racial Beachhead: Diversity and Democracy in a Military Town] (2012).
* Lisa McGirr. [[Suburban Warriors|Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right]] (2002).
* James Miller. [[Flowers in the Dustbin|Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock and Roll, 1947-1977]] (2000).
* Glen M. Mimura. [[Ghostlife of the Third Cinema|Ghostlife of Third Cinema: Asian American Film and Video]] (2009).
* John Hull Mollenkopf. [[The Contested City]] (1983).
* Maggi M. Morehouse. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/double-victory-from-wwii-to-the-avf-african-americans-and-the-u-s-military/ Fighting in the Jim Crow Army: Black Man and Women Remember World War II] (2000).
* Edward P. Morgan. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/a-mediating-mess-how-american-post-wwii-media-undermined-democracy/ What Really Happened to the Sixties: How Mass Media Culture Failed American Democracy] (2011)
* Charles Moskos Jr. and John Sibley Butler. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/double-victory-from-wwii-to-the-avf-african-americans-and-the-u-s-military/ All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way] (1996).
* Andrew H. Myers. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/3187/ Black, White, and Olive Drab: Racial Integration at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and the Civil Rights Movement] (2006).
* Armando Navarro. [[The Cristal Experiment|The Cristal Experiment: A Chicano Struggle for Community Control]] (1998).
* Becky M. Nicolaides. [[My Blue Heaven|My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965]] (2002).
* Anthony M. Petro. [[After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion]] (2015).
* Margaret Pugh O’Mara. [[Cities of Knowledge|Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley]] (2004).
* Gilbert Osofsky. [[Harlem|Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto : Negro New York, 1890-1930]] (1996).
* Rick Perlstein. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/essence-precedes-existence-the-problem-of-identity-politics-in-hurewitzs-bohemian-la/ Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America](2009).
* Rebecca Jo Plant. [[Mom|Mom: The Transformation of Motherhood in Modern America]] (2012).
* Brenda Gayle Plummer. [[Window on Freedom|Window on Freedom: Race, Civil Rights, and Foreign Affairs, 1945-1988]] (2003).
* Jerald E. Podair. [[The Strike that Changed New York|The Strike that Changed New York: Blacks, Whites, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis]] (2002).
* Doris Marie Provine. [[Unequal Under Law|Unequal Under Law: Race in the War on Drugs]] (2007).
* Daniel T. Rodgers. [[Contested Truths|Contested Truths: Keywords in American Politics Since Independence]] (1998).
* David Roediger. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/dog-days-classics-the-wages-of-whiteness-and-the-white-people-who-love-them/ The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class] (1991).
* Adam Rome. [[The Bulldozer in the Countryside|The Bulldozer in the Countryside: Suburban Sprawl and the Rise of American Environmentalism]] (2001).
* Richard Ronald. [[The Ideology of Home Ownership|The Ideology of Home Ownership: Homeowner Societies and the Role of Housing]] (2008).
* Jake Rosenfeld. [[What Unions No Longer Do]] (2014).
* Peter Henry Rossi & Robert A. Dentler. [[The Politics of Urban Renewal|The Politics of Urban Renewal: The Chicago Findings]] (1981).
* Sheila Rowbotham [[Dreamers of a New Day|Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century]] (2010).
* Mike Royko. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/dog-days-classics-political-boss-and-midwestern-pharaoh-richard-j-daleys-chicago-legacy/ Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago] (1971)
* Roger Sanjek. [[The Future of Us All|The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in New York City]] (1998).
* Jennifer Scanlon. [[Bad Girls Go Everywhere: The Life of Helen Gurley Brown, the Woman Behind Cosmopolitan Magazine]] (2009).
* Bruce Schulman & Bruce J. Schulman. [[The Seventies|The Seventies: The Great Shift In American Culture, Society, And Politics]] (2002).
* Joel Schwartz. [[The New York Approach|The New York Approach: Robert Moses, Urban Liberals, and Redevelopment of the Inner City]] (1993).
*Gary S. Selby [[Martin Luther King and the Rhetoric of Freedom: The Exodus Narrative in America's Struggle for Civil Rights]] (2008)
* Josh Sides. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/making-san-francisco-josh-sides-erotic-city/ Erotic City: Sexual Revolutions and the Making of Modern San Francisco] (2009).
* Nayan Shah. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/intimate-citizenship-the-influence-of-marriage-sexuality-and-transience-on-national-membership/Stranger Intimacy:Contesting Race, Sexuality and Law in the American Northwest] (2012).
* David J. Silbey. [[A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902]] (2007).
* Rickie Solinger. [[Beggars and Choosers|Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States]] (2002).
* Allan H. Spear. [[Black Chicago|Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-1920]] (1969).
* Todd Swanstrom. [[The Crisis of Growth Politics|The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism]] (1988).
* Ronald Takaki. [[Hiroshima|Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb]] (1996).
* Penny M. Von Eschen. [[Satchmo Blows Up The World|Satchmo Blows Up The World: Jazz Ambassadors Play The Cold War]] (2004).
* Robert Wiebe. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/dog-day-classics-robert-h-wiebe-and-the-search-for-order/ The Search for Order, 1877 - 1920] (1967).
* Andrew Wiese. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/getting-to-the-mountaintop-the-suburban-dreams-of-african-americans/ Places of Their Own: African American Suburbanization in the Twentieth Century] (2004)
* Rhonda Y. Williams. [[The Politics of Public Housing|The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women’s Struggles Against Urban Inequality]] (2004).
* William Appleman Williams. [[The Tragedy of American Diplomacy]] (2009).
*Kayla R. Wirtz [[Environmental Values in American Culture]] (1999)
* Gwendolyn Wright. [[Building the Dream|Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing in America]] (1983).
*Young B. Marilyn. [[The Vietnam Wars|The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990]] (1991).
*Zimmerman, Andrew. [http://tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/the-ties-that-bind-the-transnational-trick-of-immobilizing-the-mobile/ Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South] (2010).
*Washington Harriet. [[Medical Apartheid|Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present]] (2006)