'Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones has written a splendidly provocative study with insights on nearly every page. Anyone who cares about the tangled but consequential history of American radicalism and reform should read this book.' Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation and editor of Dissent 'To this refreshing, provocative volume, veteran historian Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones brings a lifetime's knowledge and thought. In a sprightly assault on the conventional wisdom, he demonstrates with a wonderfully eclectic range of examples the effectiveness of the American left and its central role in the shaping of modern American life.' Michael Heale, Lancaster University Tells the story of how the left has shaped American political and social life Only the American right has ever really recognized the potency of the American left. Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones looks at why others have underestimated the left in the USA: the relative absence of a free press in America, the disposition of the left to deny its own existence in the name of pragmatism, and the left's fallacy that the right is always wrong. He goes on to set forth the achievements of the left, including the welfare state, critiques of and sometimes effective opposition to militarism, the reshaping of American culture, crusades for black rights and civil liberties, the awakening of America to the dangers of fascism, and great public enterprises such as the Twin Towers. He shows how the socialists of the Old Left gave way by the 1960s to the anti-war militants of the New Left, and how they in turn gave way to a "Newer Left" that advocated a host of additional causes such as gay rights and multiculturalism. Final chapters explore how a post-2000 Bush administration succumbed to the "socialist" nationalisation it professed to condemn, and how Barack Obama is a president for the left. Key Features - Draws on interviews with participants on the left including Todd Gitlin (president of Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s), Frances Piven (anti-poverty campaigner and bête noir of the American right), Bernie Sanders (socialist US Senator from Vermont), and Marilyn Young (leading New Left historian of US foreign policy). - Explores the changes that have taken place in the years between the orthodox socialist challenge of a century ago and the actions of those whom President Obama describes as "my friends on the left" Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones is professor emeritus of American History at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Changing Differences: Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy (1995) and Peace Now! American Society and the Ending of the Vietnam War (1999). Cover design: [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com