The 1990s (Cultural History of the United States Through the Decades)

Rating:
Summary: What happened in the 1990s (up until 1998 anyhow...)
Review: This volume on "The 1990s," the last in the information series "A Cultural History of the United States: Through the Decades" was actually published in 1999, so this does not really provide a COMPLETE picture of the last decade of the 20th Century. What do we end up missing because of this? Basically Monica Lewinsky and the Clinton impeachment, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the epilogue of Stuart A. Kallen's book, "Into the Twenty-First Century," offers the poignant irony of a photograph of the Manhattan skyline in New York City with the World Trade Center prominently displayed and a caption which concludes, "As the 1990s ended, many people wondered what the future would bring."

Kallen begins with an introduction "Examining the Eighties," considering the Reagan Years, the end of the Cold War, the Bush-Quayle Years (although I am at a loss why the name of the Vice President would need to be featured so prominently), and the political crises that erupted abroad in China and Panama. This sets the stage for the first of the book's seven chapters as Bill Clinton becomes President: (1) Big Changes in Washington recaps how George Bush's popularity with the success of Operation Desert Storm did not translate into re-election. The impact of Ross Perot, the inability of the government to enact Health Care reform despite the fact everybody agreed it was needed, and the Republican Contract with America are all covered in detail. (2) The Post-Cold War World finds the fall of the Soviet Union becoming less important than the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait which lead to the Gulf War. (3) Violence in America recalls a decade of stories that would all end up as made for TV movies, from the FBI fiascoes at Ruby Ridge and Waco to the bombings at the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City. In such a world, the Unabomber seems rather insignificant.

(4) Trends in Family and Education looks at Generation X and changes in the nuclear family, but also covers the headline cases of violence in the schools (add Columbine to the list of what this volume missed out by not waiting for the decade to end). (5) Gender and Race Conflict focuses on the Clarence Thomas hearings, the Rodney King beating and subsequent race riots in L.A., and the O.J. Simpson murder case. Obviously we are talking about gender and race in combination, rather than as separate issues. (6) Pop Culture in the Digital Age brings the Simpsons, Grunge music, Lilith Faith and rap music together as part of the cultural mix. (7) Technology, Medicine, and the Environment not only brings the book to a close but ends the series as it began when we first looked at the 1900s, by looking at how technology was making the lives of people better. Of course, here we are talking about gene therapy, cloning and the world wide web rather than ice boxes, telephones and the automobile.

The book is illustrated with black & white photographs from throughout the decade. Also, you will find informative sidebars in each of the chapters giving young readers more information about topics such as Colin Powell, the death of Princess Diana, and the Y2K bug. Obviously this book is going to be of more use to classes studying current events, sociology, or culture rather than American history, since most American history classes do not make it up to the actual lifetime of their students. However, this volume and its immediate predecessor(s) can be used to bridge the gap between where you American history textbook ends and now ("now" being defined as the last few years).