This ambitious and multidisciplinary collection consists of eighteen essays from leading American scholars that re-examine US history since the end of World War II. The essays use approaches from different fields of history and academic disciplines to shed new light on US history, with the claim that the volume “seeks not to summarize existing knowledge, but to examine the interrelationships that commonly elude scholarly specialists” (4). These include the relationships between politics, government, society, culture, race, gender, technology, labour, business, and more besides. As a result, chapter titles include “Bringing It Home: Children, Technology and Family in the Postwar World,” and “Citizenship and the Problem of Desire in the Postwar Labour and Civil Rights Movements.” The introduction arguably overstates the rigidity of existing disciplinary boundaries, but there is still much to admire in the ambition of both the conception of the collection and the essays within.

Overall, the volume adds up to a surprisingly coherent whole, especially as there is no obvious rationale for the selection of these particular essay topics. The collection can best be described as multidisciplinary, with its essays representing a diverse array of approaches. However, some of those essays are genuinely interdisciplinary. Particularly impressive in that respect are the chapters by Mark Carnes on the culture of work and Sandra Opdycke on social geography. Indeed, given the multidisciplinary nature of the volume, the division of the book into three parts that approximate existing disciplinary boundaries – Culture, Politics, and Government – seems forced and unnecessary (especially with only two essays in the final part).

With widely varying content, no one particular theme defines or links the essays, but certain constant strands do shine through. As noted in the introduction, the most notable themes are the persistence of individualism and the pervasive role of the federal government. In addition, the collection as a whole is strong in illuminating elements of both continuity and historical change. The book is also eminently readable; the essays are often informed but not dominated by theory in a way that makes the collection as accessible to non-academics as it is to specialists. All essays bar one (oddly) have a bibliographic note to promote further reading and research.

It is easy to imagine that traditionalists will take issue with the weight given to such cultural matters as music, criticism, sport and the moving image, yet the volume reflects an increasingly broad, vital and dynamic definition of what history is. Similarly, while some readers may bemoan the lack of any comprehensive historical narrative, the book makes no claims to provide such description. Instead, its strength is in the synthesis of diverse material and the incorporation of less traditional topics, including consumer and environmental advocacy, political scandals, and death and memorial culture. There is perhaps a concern over exactly who the target audience is for this volume, but there is no doubt that it deserves to find one.