Unlike many other writers, who portray the 1960s as a time of hope, vitality, and activism and the 1970s as a period of deadening self-absorption, Peter Clecak instead offers a more optimistic reappraisal of America's recent past. Pointing out the remarkable unities between these two decades, Clecak forcefully argues that the American experience of both the 60s and 70s can best be seen as a many-sided quest for personal fulfillment—for salvation and socialjustice.