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roryjf's review against another edition
4.0
Has a tendency to make sweeping pronouncements of the cultural mood of a given week depending on NYT op-eds that I think weaken the overall amazing scholarship and calcification of a period of incessant fluidity. Terrible sentence. I'm sorry.
justlcruz's review against another edition
5.0
An amazing history of Richard Nixon, but also of the political experience of America from post-WWII to the re-election of Nixon in 1972. This book has so many stories that haven't been really passed on by the generation that lived through it. Nixon is remembered for his cover up of the Watergate scandal but Nixonland goes into the details of how did America get to the point of electing Richard Nixon twice. Perlstein is able to weave the stories of the civil rights movement, the counter revolution, the politics of the Vietnam, the Republican Southern Strategy, and many other political adjusting stories that is not often shared on such a broad scope in the history books. For a child of the 80's this was an eye-opening book on the rise of Reagan, the political divide over Vietnam, and the Silent Majority that looks to Making America Great Again.
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting and thorough history of recent American partisanship and social divide, focused around Nixon's rise to power and earlier years in political leadership. At times it strayed a bit too broad or moralizing and at other times it strayed a bit too psycho-biographical, but overall I was impressed with the level of research and analysis, and I feel like I gained a lot of historical context and information in reading.
geekchicohio's review against another edition
4.0
A spectacular and engrossing look at the political landscape of the 60s and early 70s, Nixonland is somehow also incredibly timely. So much of the rhetoric of Goldwater, Wallace, Nixon, Reagan and others is still in use, almost verbatim, today. If you truly want to understand American party politics in the latter half of the 20th Century and the dawn of the 21st, this book is a must read.
adampm97's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
5.0
A great social history of the 60s and American conservatism. Perlstein is sharp, funny and very readable, and I came away with this understanding the period and its events a lot better
unionmack's review
5.0
This book is a behemoth but it's a worthwhile mountain to climb. Perlstein checks all the boxes for what I want out of a biography / history book. I'd put this in the same sphere as McCullough's work on John Adams or Chernow's on Alexander Hamilton. The thing I've loved most about reading presidential biographies during the Trump era is that they really remind you history is always tumultuous and that everyone of any era thinks they're probably living at the end of the world. For what it's worth, our current situation feels like a dim shadow of the events detailed in this book. I'll have to pick up another book to read about the final chapters of Watergate and Nixon's life post-presidency but I think Perlstein's decision to end the book with his reelection in '72 felt like the perfect conclusion to his project. Looking forward to eventually reading his stuff on Reagan and Goldwater too. Definitely check this out if you've got some time to kill and an interest in Nixon, our continuously fragile and frighteningly shaky political system, or the late '60s / early '70s in general. For that matter, if you're a biography / history nut at all, I imagine you'll enjoy this a lot.