Acquired this book from a remainder house some decades ago; finally read as a follow-up to Peter Williams’ Religion, Art, and Money, which covers a similar period in American history and mentions Lears’ book. Basically a soft Freudian approach to understanding the apparent contradictions of the period: the nostalgia for Mediaeval art and culture combined with increasing individualism and the decline of religion as a source of meaning and purpose in society. The phrase “modern superego” appears on practically every page; the word “neurasthenia” is regularly used, apparently intended as a real diagnosis; and the quest for cultural authority is frequently described as “therapeutic.” The last two chapters put a number of representative figures on the couch, notably Henry Adams, and carry out a more systematic analysis of their Oedipal issues in a fashion that seems parodic at this date. I was interested to note that while Williams identifies some of the relevant figures as homosexual, with the implication that this is/was widely known, the subject does not arise even once in Lears’ book, although the conflict between the “masculine” and the “feminine” sides of many of those who contributed to the Antimodernist movement is discussed at length.
I assume the fact that the book remains in print despite its reliance on largely-abandoned Freudian explanations for social phenomena reflects the interest which the period continues to hold for readers and scholars, and the wide-ranging research Lears presents on the subject. Extensive notes and bibliography.