Gary Gerstle - American Crucible

This sweeping history of twentieth-century America follows the changing and often conflicting ideas about the fundamental nature of American society: Is the United States a social melting pot, as our civic creed warrants, or is full citizenship somehow reserved for those who are white and of the "right" ancestry? Gary Gerstle traces the forces of civic and racial nationalism, arguing that both profoundly shaped our society. He weaves a compelling story of events, institutions, and ideas that played on perceptions of ethnic acial difference, from the world wars and the labor movement to the New Deal and Hollywood to the Cold War and the civil rights movement.

Can the United States ever live up to its civic creed? For anyone who views racism as an aberration from the liberal premises of the republic, this book is must reading.