12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to read and informative, January 23, 2003
This review is from: Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920 (Paperback)
I liked this book. It details the history of the USA in pretty sensible chronological order from 1900 to 1920, with good description of the events during those momentous decades. It is pretty balanced, and should not offend anyone with biases one way or the other. The author is an authority on the two dominating figures of those decades, Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, and I read his dual study, The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, on October 7, 1995, with much appreciation. Cooper writes in a clear style, and even tho this book read like a college textbook, hey, it is fun to read a college textbook on such interesting subjects as this book deals with. A good and worthwhile book.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Tide of the Century, March 16, 2000
This review is from: Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920 (Paperback)
These years at the beginning of the century seemed so intense. A good read when reviewing this century that (almost) was. The author tries to write a comprehensive look at everything that was happening in the US at the time, from fashion to politics. However, make no mistake, the author's favorite topic and more richly covered is: politics. There are references at the end on the amazing amount of literary work of the era, which is tantamount. All in all, a very good introductory to that time and age, and a very good starting point for a researcher in the world of those years.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, Concise Book on American History 1900 to 1920, April 22, 2007
This review is from: Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920 (Paperback)
This is one of the best written books I have ever read. Professor Cooper's writing is concise and easy to read, which is an extraordinary achievement considering the enormous amount of information packed into this medium-to-small sized book. You will learn much, yet the book is a quick-paced joy to read. More history should be written like this.
The book has many pictures and other visual aids, such as maps and newspaper headlines, to help bring the story to life. It succeeds marvelously. I believe this to be the best single-volume book on the Progressive Era, beginning at the end of the Gilded Age, through World War I, to the start of the roaring twenties. An enormous amount of fascinating history takes place during that era with many fascinating characters, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Fighting Bob LaFollette, William Jennings Bryant, the suffragists, the religious crusaders to solve social ills, and the Gilded Age capitalists. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are featured most prominantly. Indeed, the author also wrote an outstanding biography of Roosevelt and Wilson called "The Warrior and the Priest." This book can also be considered a concise and excellent biography of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
The story begins during the late Gilded Age, when America was a bustling industrial superpower. Great capitalists of the era, such as Morgan and Rockefeller, enter the story. You get a balanced portrait of the economy that employed many people and created progress but had a harsh side to to it. You learn about the Muckraker reporters who uncovered scandals and the rise of socialists among the working class, although they never gained much power.
You briefly learn what America was like at that time of great change. America had been mostly a rural country and now was both a rural country and a modern industrial economy. The rural people and generally the Democratic party, with power mainly in the south and midwest, favored low tarriffs and polices helping the pastoral life. William Jennings Bryant exemplified these views. He fought for the farmers with his legendary "cross of gold" speech. Yet his rural ways and religiosity, common among many people, made his a less-desirable candidate among swing voters, and he was defeated multiple times in his bid for the presidency.
President McKinley was a mild imperialist and brought American on the world stage. He won the presidency by campaigning only from his porch in Ohio. The industrialists were so afraid of Bryant that they donated an unprecedently amount of money to McKinley. Although he was strongly pro-business and supported high tarriffs, McKinley slightly lowered tarriffs as president and began early anti-trust actions against monopolies.
Several presidents back then came from Ohio, which shows you where the power was concentrated back then.
Theodore Roosevelt is then prominantly features for much of the book. He was not the fervent trust-buster that he has been portrayed. He thought bigness was a good thing. He just did not like the bigness to become so big as to become a monopoly and thwart competition. He also wanted to establish the principle that government had the right to regulate business. He used the Bully Pulpit to lobby his causes to the public. At first he was probably more conservative than progressive, despite being very progressive, yet he became much more progressive as he got older. In his youth he felt that Hamilton was right in the original struggle between Jefferson and Hamilton, but he finally came to believe that Jefferson was right. He was a very colorful person and probably the biggest personality of his time. You will need to read this book to learn all the fascinating history surrounding Roosevelt, and there is so much in this book.
Wilson won the presidency when Roosevelt ran for president as a progressive under the Bull Moose, splitting the Republican votes. Wilson created so many things, such as the Federal Reserve (later improved by FDR), Federal Trade Commission, the progressive tax, direct election of U.S. senators, and more. At this time, women received the right to vote. You learn about the suffragists. This is fascinating history!
I was very surprised to learn that Wilson was such an internationalist. He sent marines several times to nations in latin America, including a fiasco in Mexico. His presidency climaxed in World War I. Read the book to learn the fascinating details. Wilson was also a rigidly religious man who later rigidly refused to compromise with Henry Cabbotte Lodge on the League of Nations legislation (and the compromise was better than what Wilson had originally proposed).
Southern racism and segregation were still subtle but powerful forces in American politics, although few people talked about it or even acknowledged it, except for maybe W.E.B. Du Bubois and then the vocal backlash to Roosevelt when he invited Du Bois to the White House. Thousands of African American served with distinction in World War I, and after coming home from the egalitarian France, they were subjected to segregation. Other rural whites, once seeing Paris, did not want to return to boring lives on farms. The war brought about many changes.
This is an outstanding and enjoyable book to read. You briefly learn about Hull House and the religous workers trying to solve the ills of poverty, prohibition, the railroads, popular entertainment, and more. I highly recommend it if you are interested in any of the people, movements, or history of the era, or if you are just looking for an enjoyable read. Highest rating!
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