The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics

(Paperback)

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Where does the New Deal fit in the big picture of American history What does it mean for us today What happened to the economic equality it once engendered In The Great Exception, Jefferson Cowie provides new answers to these important questions. In the period between the Great Depression and the 1970s, he argues, the United States government ac

Reviews

"Cowie--like the best work of the mid-century historian Richard Hofstadter, whom he frequently cites--has written not so much a work of American history as a brilliant meditation about a central dilemma of American history."--In These Times "Jefferson Cowie offers a grand interpretation of the road blocks to change... A rich survey, studded with insights culled from a generation of scholarship."--Michael Kazin, Bookforum "Cowie sings the achievements of the New Deal in a tragic register, emphasizing its transformative power while lingering on its compromises... Cowie's vision is coherent and arresting, and helps to make sense of recurring puzzles in American political experience. As a literary-intellectual posture, moreover, his fatalism is downright infectious."--Democracy "Important."--Harold Meyerson, American Prospect "One of the year's most important political books."--E.J. Dione Jr., Washington Post "Engaging and highly readable, Cowie's book provides an excellent, thought-provoking introduction to American economic and political history."--Choice

Author Bio

Jefferson Cowie is the James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Stayin' Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class. His work has also appeared in such publications as the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.