A collection of essays by the 20th century historian Richard Hofstadter, this volume contains some valuable insights into the politics of the United States in the 21st century. The title essay looks at how a paranoid theme has run through the history of American politics, with demagogues campaigning...
Hofstadter admits reform would have been impossible “without the impetus given by certain social grievances,” but he prefers to separate out a more-or-less cultural spirit of progressivism, which he says was “not nearly so much the movement of any social class,” as “a rather widespread and remarkabl...
A very good overview, especially for someone like me who isn't very interested in politics.