A Bubble in Time
America During the Interwar Years, 1989–2001
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Ivan R Dee, Inc
Published:16th Sep '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The all-too-brief period of relative tranquility that extended from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of the War on Terror is the subject of William L. O'Neill's brilliant new study of recent American history. Mr. O'Neill's sharp eye for the telling incident and the apt quotation combine with an acute historical judgment to make A Bubble in Time a compellingly readable informal history. The first Gulf War and President Clinton's interventions abroad notwithstanding, American spirits were freer from fear than they had been since the 1920s, the author argues. No world war loomed before the United States, and after the Berlin Wall came down the specter of nuclear annihilation faded as well. A brief recession in the 1990s gave way to the most prosperous years Americans had known for decades. Unlike in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan, the increase in national wealth trickled down to the middle class thanks to an unusual rise in productivity and large infrastructure investments by firms in the "new economy." To general amazement, crime rates began falling after almost thirty years of increases, so that Americans were happier, safer, and materially better off than before. Although the Republican party turned to the dark side, Mr. O'Neill writes, peace and prosperity enabled people to enjoy the finer things in life and to lavish their concerns on political correctness, the decline of the military, the troubles of higher education, and the manifestations of an out-of-control popular culture he calls "Tabloid Nation"—the trials of O.J. Simpson and President Clinton, SUVs, cell phones, and bimbo eruptions. Mr. O'Neill explores them all, and more, with insight and wit. "It was all too good to last," he tells us. "Reality intruded again with the dot.com crash in 2000 and the terrorist attacks of 2001. Still, we will always have Paris Hilton." With 8 pages of black-and-white photographs.
Few historians possess the literary gifts of William O’Neill, whose previous books on the 1950s and the 1960s remain gems of modern American history. O’Neill’s great strength is his ability to weave the disparate strands of politics and popular culture into a seamless story—a trend he continues with A Bubble in Time, a witty and wickedly perceptive account of American life in the decade of Desert Storm, Bill Clinton, O. J. Simpson and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is narrative history at its finest. -- David Oshinsky, author of Polio: An American Story
The 1990s truly were, as William O’Neill writes, a 'decade of lost chances.' In this shrewd, pungently written book, he recounts the folly and frivolity of those years while mourning the immense opportunities that Americans squandered. -- Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism
Well written and evenhanded, with a taut, perceptive narrative, William O’Neill’s A Bubble in Time does for the 1990s what Frederick Lewis Allen and Only Yesterday did for the 1920s. -- Lewis L. Gould, author of The Modern American Presidency
Many of us who survived the fitful years between the end of the Cold War and the start of the so-called War on Terror often had trouble connecting the dots—from The Mother of Battles to Black Hawk Down, from O. J.’s black glove to Monica’s blue dress. We all owe a debt to the historical grasp of William L. O’Neill. A Bubble in Time recasts those episodes and others into a gestalt that makes more sense than the sum of its memorable but disjointed parts. And in the process he helps us to a better understanding of the twenty-first-century history we are now living through. -- Robert Shogan, Author of No Sense of Decency: The Army-McCarthy Hearings
From the triumphs and scandals of the Clinton years to the Simpson trial, O’Neill’s outstanding recent history has all of the concision, insight, and wit of his wonderful classic, Coming Apart. -- Michael O'Brien, author of Rethinking Kennedy
O’Neill is one of the most impressive scholars of mid-century America, and now he has emerged as an equally important interpreter of an era that is just making the transition from newspaper headlines to history. -- Victor Brooks, author of Boomers
Gives a reader the chance to time travel back to a wild era. . . . Highly readable. * Connecticut Post *
O'Neill applies an understated sense of humor and irony to connect the many dots in his narrative. * The American Conservative *
An intelligent reading of 12 years in recent U.S. history. * Publishers Weekly *
A powerful social history, this deserves a place in any contemporary American history library. * Midwest Book Review *
Like a memorable college course, this book is both entertaining and edifying. -- Adera Causey * Chattanooga Times Free Press *
Students of U.S. history will relish this book, which lets us look at the 1989–2001 era with the perspective of the passage of nearly a decade. O'Neill's contribution to understanding that period is to be treasured. -- Dennie Hall * The Oklahoman *
ISBN: 9781566638067
Dimensions: 245mm x 168mm x 38mm
Weight: 830g
448 pages