On the Shelf

Coming in March from Hill & Wang is a first book by Rick Perlstein, AB'92, a writer for Slate, Lingua Franca, and The Nation. In Before the Storm: The Goldwater Campaign and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, Perlstein narrates the rise of conservatism during a liberal era. Detailing the 1959-64 movement to elect conservative Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater as president, he argues that the 1960s saw the cultural transformation of the United States' self-image from united to a view of itself as deeply divided. With that transformation came a key shift in American politics, one that eventually led to the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan. Along the way, Perlstein profiles such figures as Lyndon Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller, Bill Moyers, and Reagan.-M.R.Y.