Making Sense of American Liberalism

“With the proliferation of scholarly monographs on the conservative movement, this volume’s serious engagement with U.S. liberalism is surprisingly refreshing. Highly Recommended.”–Choice “A compelling narrative of the shifting dynamics of ideas and policy on the left end of the political spectrum.”–The Journal of American History “An exciting collection of ten essays exploring liberalism and the New Deal coalition in the twentieth century… a wonderful preview of some interesting new scholarship.”–The Journal of Southern History “This impressive collection of thoughtful essays pulls together an all-star roster of prominent historians and promising younger scholars to make an important contribution to our understanding of postwar liberalism.”–Steven M. Gillon, resident historian for The History Channel and author of The Kennedy Assassination–24 Hours After: Lyndon B. Johnson’s Pivotal First Day as President “Making Sense of American Liberalism promises to alter the way we look at liberalism and the Democratic Party. Disagreeing with contentions that conservatives enjoy a natural electoral majority, editors Jonathan Bell and Timothy Stanley use the essays in this volume to show that American history is neither seamlessly conservative nor liberal but rather an ongoing battle between these two competing visions. The collection will prompt scholars to reconsider the history of postwar politics.”–Peter B. Levy, author of The New Left and Labor in the 1960s

Jonathan Bell is an associate professor of history at the University of Reading, England, and the author of The Liberal State on Trial: The Cold War and American Politics in the Truman Years. Timothy Stanley is a member of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, and the author of The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan.