Share <Embed>

Buy New

$9.32

List Price: $14.95
Save: $5.63 (38%)

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Thursday, Oct. 18? Choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$5.62

+ $0.00 shipping

Deliver to France

Used: Good | Details

Sold by hippo_books

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$9.97
+ $9.35 shipping

Sold by: Ambis Enterprises

Add to Cart

$9.98
+ $28.90 shipping

Sold by: indoobestsellers

Add to Cart

$14.07
+ $3.97 shipping

Sold by: BOOK- LAND

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture Paperback – July 22, 2008

by Brink Lindsey (Author)

15 customer reviews

See all 9 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

"Please retry"

$9.37

—

—

"Please retry"

$3.95

Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.32

Until the 1950s, the struggle to feed, clothe, and employ the nation drove most of American political life. From slavery to the New Deal, political parties organized around economic interests and engaged in fervent debate over the best allocation of agonizingly scarce resources. But with the explosion of the nation's economy in the years after World War II, a new set of needs began to emerge—a search for meaning and self-expression on one side, and a quest for stability and a return to traditional values on the other.

In The Age of Abundance, Brink Lindsey offers a bold reinterpretation of the latter half of the twentieth century. In this sweeping history of postwar America, the tumult of racial and gender politics, the rise of the counterculture, and the conservative revolution of the 1980s and 1990s are portrayed in an entirely new light. Readers will learn how and why the contemporary ideologies of left and right emerged in response to the novel challenges of mass prosperity.

The political ideas that created the culture wars, however, have now grown obsolete. As the Washington Post aptly summarized Lindsey's take on the contradictions of American politics, "Republicans want to go home to the United States of the 1950s while Democrats want to work there." Struggling to replace today's stale conflicts is a new consensus that mixes the social freedom of the left with the economic freedom of the right into a potentially powerful ethos of libertarianism. The Age of Abundance reveals the secret formula of this remarkable alchemy. The book is a breathtaking reevaluation of our recent past—and will change the way we think about the future.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Brink Lindsey

16

Hardcover
$6.73

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Sun Tzu

The definitive translation of Sun-tzu's timeless classic of military strategy

9293

Paperback
$13.93
Feedback

Ray Dalio

717

Kindle Edition
$14.99
Feedback

Bill O'Reilly

New from #1 New York Times Bestselling author Bill O'Reilly.

21

Just Released

Hardcover
$17.99
Feedback

Michael Ovitz

12

Just Released

Hardcover
$18.00
Feedback

Brian Christian

This dazzlingly interdisciplinary work shows how algorithms developed for computers also untangle very human questions about how we make decisions.

268

Paperback
$16.53
Feedback

Vincent L. Scarsella

136

Kindle Edition
$4.99
Feedback

Douglas Preston

A timeless legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a true story about a journey into the heart of the world's densest jungle.

1645

Paperback
$11.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Here is one of the freshest and most thought-provoking books on recent American history to appear in years.” (Adrian Wooldridge, co-author of The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America)

“Shows us how great an achievement our economy is-it reshaped our society and our culture, for better and worse.” (Michael Barone, Senior Writer, U.S. News & World Report and co-author, The Almanac of American Politics)

“In The Age of Abundance, Brink Lindsey provides an admirable-and much needed-model of rational, respectful, readable political argument.” (Virginia Postrel, Author, The Substance of Style)

“In an age of abundance, the libertarian moment may have arrived, trumping the old division between left and right.” (Douglas S. Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University and author of Return of the "L" Word: A Liberal Vision for the New Century)

“With breathtaking analysis, Lindsey...offers a dizzying look...over American economics, politics, and culture to examine the complexities of abundance.” (Booklist (starred review))

“An engaging argument that, probably better than any other, explains much of how we’ve arrived at our current past.” (Fred Siegel, The City Journal)

“A wise, revealing book combining the long sweep of history with a documentarian’s eye for detail.” (Chris Tucker, Dallas Morning News)

“Lindsey’s basic argument is fresh and provocative and his insights are frequently dazzling.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Lindsey’s measured cheerfulness is, like his scintillating book, reasonable.” (George F. Will, New York Times Book Review)

About the Author

Brink Lindsey is vice president for research at the Cato Institute. He is the author of Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism, which the Wall Street Journal called "compelling" and "excellent" and the Economist declared was "full of elegantly argued good sense." His articles have appeared in numerous leading newspapers and opinion magazines such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New Republic, and the National Review. He lives with his family near Washington, D.C.

Product details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperBusiness; Reprint edition (July 22, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060747676
ISBN-13: 978-0060747671
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.9 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 15 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,833,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6431 in Books > Business & Money > Biography & History > Economic History
- #30521 in Books > History > Historical Study & Educational Resources
- #49861 in Books > Business & Money > Economics

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

If you buy a new print edition of this book (or purchased one in the past), you can buy the Kindle edition for only $2.99 (Save 63%). Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. .

Be the first video

Your name here

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars

2 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 15 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Amazon Customer

A fresh perspective on some familiar history

September 29, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Brink Lindsey seems like a really average American guy, which is surprising not because of his unusual name but because he's the Vice President for Research at the libertarian Cato Institute. When so many Libertarians (large L) seem like wackos to most mainstream Americans, Mr. Lindsey does his movement a favor by offering this book. He presents a compelling case that libertarianism (small l) not only makes sense as an ideal for mainstream Americans, but in fact that mainstream America has been moving steadily in that direction since the culture wars of the 60's erupted and left most Americans wondering where all the weirdos -- left and right -- came from. He's much too respectful of both the Aquarians (a useful nomenclature that he seems to have coined) and the Evangelicals to call them "weirdos", but, as is typical of libertarians, he is very comfortable offering criticisms of both movements while at the same time acknowledging the beneficial contributions of both. The book retells the post-WWII history of the United States with some wonderful details added to the stories and personalities most Americans know well. Along the way, he offers his perspective of how mainstream America has adopted most of the libertarian leanings of these two political extremes while rejecting most of the more freedom-reducing elements. It's a refreshing presentation of recent history, and his main argument is compelling and enjoyable to read.

An short adaptation of the book is available online at [...] , it offers a decent taste of the book as a whole.

2 people found this helpful

Comment

Amazon Customer

I lived a lot of this.... it's just as I remember

June 16, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fascinating analysis, don't get blown away by the intro, which is far too technical for lay person to understand

Comment

Chronicled Change

August 9, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Provided an excellent explanation of our country's current social and political situation by chronicling how the nation's political center re-balances extremes on the left and right.

5 people found this helpful

Comment

The Age of Abundance

May 24, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is the best modern American history that I have seen. The author presents an intriguing theme and makes his points via an eminently readable tour of our cultural, political and economic history. He makes his case (in my view) quite persuasively. Even if you do not agree, you will feel refreshed and exhilirated.

9 people found this helpful

Comment

July 4, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This was for a class. It was dry, dull, boring and I hated every time I had to read something from it.

One person found this helpful

Comment

Izaak VanGaalen

Mass Affluence and Libertarianism

July 24, 2007

Format: Hardcover

Brink Lindsey of the libertarian Cato Institute recounts the story of American prosperity that followed World War II. Although countless others have written about this phenomenon, Lindsey's take of these events is fresh and insightful, and, not surprisely, vindicates his libertarian worldview.

According to Lindsey, the mass affluence that ushered in after World War II lifted us out of "the realm of necessity" and into "the realm of freedom." For the first time in human history the vast majority no longer struggled to obtain the basic necessities of life. Many would debate this point, but statistically one could prove that even the poor were better off than in previous time or place.

Leaving the age of scarcity and entering the age of abundance, Americans were suddenly faced proliferation of choices, arguably turning them into a different kind of people. Not only did this unleash a quest for material wealth, but also a desire for political and cultural change. The age of abundance produced two antithetical social movements that upended the peaceful harmony of the 1950s. For the left of the 1960s and 70s, mass affluence created new possibilities for personal growth and greater tolerance and opportunity for women and minorities. The left, however, was dismissive of business culture and traditional family values, and failed to see how they were in fact responsible for the prosperity that they were enjoying. On the other side was the evangelical Christian right who was more protective of capitalism and tradition, but who were very intolerant of the newfound freedoms and lifestyles that were being explored.

During the 1980s and 90s, the cultural wars between these two camps raged, especially on election years. The blue-staters calling for greater political freedoms and the red-staters holding the fort on traditonal family values. Lindsey argues that these two camps are of late coming around to seeing the merits of the other's point of view. He writes that "today's typical red-state conservative is considerably bluer on race relations, the role of women, and sexual morality than his predecessor of a generation ago." And likewise, "the typical blue-state liberal is considerably redder than his predecessor when it comes to the importance of markets to economic growth, the virtues of the two-parent family and the morality of American geopolitical power." According to Lindsey, we are now living in a period of "libertarian synthesis."

This book could be called a feel-good libertarian parable. It praises the wisdom of the broad middle-class that not only reveres tradition but also tolerates greater freedoms than previous generations. The majority now feels comfortable with libertarianism. During election years hot-button issues are still ignited and battlelines are still drawn, but this has more to do with the media and electioneering than the real viewpoints of the majority. The reality is more complex and less divisive than the media would have us believe. We now have social peace because there is a greater tolerance for alternative views and lifestyles.

17 people found this helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture

Set up a giveaway

English United States

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads
© 1996-2018, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates