2752 The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s, by Allen J. Matusow (read 2 Jun 1995) This is a 1984 volume in The New American Nation series. It is dubbed a history of liberalism in the 1960's and deals with much I knew and lived thru as a person avidly interested in politics. It contains a harsh indictment of many liberal efforts I supported. Its words on the War on Poverty seem somewhat valid to me now. The book has a chapter on the civil rights struggle, and a whole section on economics and the fall of Keynesism. The third section talks of the counterculture, the new left, and black power, ending with the war and the 1968 election. Much Matusow says makes sense to my more conservative self now (1995) , but he is also glib. The sixties were an exciting and stress-filled time, and this book was worth reading. ( )

Cogent critique of domestic policy under presidents JFK and LBJ shows how American prosperity was squandered on a pointless war in Vietnam and a clueless war on poverty.