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Title: Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years by Haynes Johnson ISBN: 0-385-42259-8 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 23 February, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.27 (15 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: A Nightmare of Revisionist History
Comment: I suppose a short quote from the back cover should tell you enough about this book's view of the Reagan years, it "... chronicles America's fall from dominant world power to struggling debtor nation, as well as the simultaneous national swing from productivity and stirring optimism to a new foreboding about the future."
Wow! This raises the question, "what color is the sky in your world?" I can appreciate other people have different interpretations of history but this is nothing short of bizarre. If Haynes wants to revise history, he should start with merely shading the truth and not say white is black.
Perhaps Haynes will now favor us with a book about the wild optimism, surging geopolitical power and zooming economy of the Carter years. No, wait, that's not ridiculous enough... Maybe the boyish charm, wacky wit and tender sensitivity of Joseph Stalin?
I understand that, for whatever reason, many people of the left hate Ronald Reagan and his legacy. (Just as many of the right hate Clinton, also often without much justification.) For those who are largely in touch with reality, but don't like Reagan, the economic miracle (no, that's not too strong) and geopolitical ascendancy that began during his administration must lead to massive coginitive dissonance. But a more reasonable way to approach this would be to try to posit that Reagan really didn't have much to do with all the good things that occurred under his watch rather than simply deny reality. It wouldn't be true, but at least it would be more reasonable.
One other quote from the back cover is worth noting: "Journalism at its best," crows John Kenneth Galbraith. I will be generous and assume he was being sarcastic.
Better luck next time...
Rating: 3
Summary: Bland and Dull
Comment: I really wanted to read this book based on the assumption that it would be an overview of the policies that the Reagan administration put in place and the effects it had on the U.S. - good or bad. Unfortunately, that really was not this book was about, the first 100 pages are all about Reagan before he was elected President. If I wanted that history I would have read a bio on Reagan. There was about 150 pages on Iran Contra and then about 100 pages of fill talking about MTV and Wall Street scandals. Again not really what I was looking for. I am not a big fan of the Reagan administration so I wanted an articulate and well thought out look at the administration, but this author tries to blame everything on him. I wanted some pointed zingers, but his weak links just made me think that he was a little over the top.
As far as the writing went, I thought the author jumped around a lot from one topic to another with no clear, smooth transition. I guess I expected more from such a well know and respected author, what I got was a general review of the 80's with an effort to place all errors and issues on the shoulders of Reagan. I also may be a little bias in that I have read a good number of books over Iran - Contra so a 150 page review written so close to the event is inevitably going to leave out some info that fuller telling of the story would include. Overall I would not recommend this book if you have a good understanding of the period or issues, because there will be nothing new for you.
Rating: 2
Summary: Ok, but there are others that are a better use of time
Comment: This book was very easy to read. That is the best part of this book. However, I expected to read an unbiased account of the Reagan years. Instead, this book leaves out many important parts of the Reagan presidency, including Lebanon and Grenada. Also, his coverage of Iran Contra is very brief. Instead, much of the book is devoted to discussing the increase in natl debt (true, it was huge), and the threat of other countries to dethrone the US economically. Johnson started writing this book in 1987, and finished in 1991. He didnt know at the time that Japan would be caught in recession for the next 10 years, or that when Reagan said "i do not recall", he was well into the stages of Seninity. I am not a huge fan of Reagan, or his economic policies. I generally think he was a really good actor who knew how to make an average presidency seem amazing. However, it is foolish to blame everything that is wrong with America on Reagan. We can no more blame Reagan for the '87 crash and corporate scandal of the 80's than we can blame Clinton for Enron, Worldcom, and the dotcom/telecom crash.
There is a MUCH BETTER book out there for those of you that are looking for an unbiased account of the 80's, and one that includes all of the details of the workings of government, the politics involved with the ICBM treaties with the Soviets, and all the other interesting stuff that happened during his presidency (both good and bad). It is "President Reagan, the Role of a Lifetime" by Cannon. It sounds like a pro Reagan book, but it is very unbiased. Those who like Reagan probably think it is too hard on him for Iran-contra and supply side economics, and those anti-Reagan will probably dispute the joint credit he gets (with Gorbechev) for halting the Cold War, but he is fair and dispassionate, as a journalist should be. Its a much better use of time.
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Title: WHY AMERICANS HATE POLITICS: THE DEATH OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS by E.J. Dionne ISBN: 0671778773 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Paradox of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of the Public Trust by John B. Judis ISBN: 041593026X Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States (Paper), Vol 10) by James T. Patterson ISBN: 0195117972 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants Are Reshaping American Democracy by Dennis W. Johnson ISBN: 0415928362 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Power Game by Hedrick Smith ISBN: 0345410483 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 29 September, 1996 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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