{"product_id":"transforming-america-politics-and-culture-during-the-reagan-years","title":"Transforming America: Politics and Culture During the Reagan Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy the end of the 1980s  the \"malaise\" that had once pervaded American society was replaced by a renewed sense of confidence and national purpose. However  beneath this veneer of optimism was a nation confronting the effects of massive federal deficits  a reckless foreign policy  AIDS  homelessness  and a growing \"cultural war.\"  In Transforming America  renowned historian Robert Collins examines the decades critical and controversial developments and the unmistakable influence of Ronald Reagan. Moving beyond conventional depictions that either demonize or sanctify Reagan  Collins offers fresh insights into his thought and influence. He portrays Reagan as a complex political figure who combined ideological conservatism with political pragmatism to achieve many of his policy aims. Collins demonstrates how Reagans policies helped to limit the scope of government  control inflation  reduce the threat of nuclear war  and defeat communism. Collins also shows how the simultaneous ascendancy of the right in politics and the left in culture created a divisive legacy.  The 1980s witnessed other changes  including the advent of the personal computer  a revolution in information technology  a more globalized national economy  and a restructuring of the American corporation. In the realm of culture  the creation of MTV  the popularity of self-help gurus  and the rise of postmodernism in American universities were the realization of the cultural shifts of the postwar era. These developments  Collins suggests  created a conflict in American society that continues today  pitting cultural conservatism against a secular and multicultural view of the world.  Entertaining and erudite  Transforming America explores the events  movements  and ideas that defined a turbulent decade and profoundly changed the shape and direction of American culture and politics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964819435573,"sku":"ByrdShop_0231124015","price":34.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780231124010.jpg?v=1770481374","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/transforming-america-politics-and-culture-during-the-reagan-years","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}