The Other Eighties A Secret History of America in the Age of Reagan [Paperback]

In this engaging book, Bradford Martin illuminates a different 1980s than many rememberone whose history has been buried under the celebratory narrative of conservative ascendancy. Ronald Reagan looms large in most accounts of the period, encouraging Americans to renounce the activist and liberal politics of the 1960s and '70s and embrace the resurgent conservative wave. But a closer look reveals that a sizable swath of Americans strongly disapproved of Reagan's policies throughout his presidency. With a weakened Democratic Party scurrying for the political center, many expressed their dissatisfaction outside electoral politics. Unlike the civil rights and Vietnam-era protesters, activists of the 1980s often found themselves on the defensive, struggling to preserve the hard-won victories of the previous era. Their successes, then, were not in ushering in a new era of progressive reforms but in effecting change in areas from professional life to popular culture, while beating back an even more forceful political shift to the right.

Other than Sean Wilentz'sThe Age of Reagan, Martin has created the first major historical work on this crucial decade.The Other Eightiesis much needed opening salvo in a serious discussion about the role of dissent in this era . . . A new and exciting interpretation of this decade that successfully challenges what we think we know. W. Scott Poole, PopMatters

In arguing for a 1980s that not only didn't uniformly embrace the superficial conformity of the Reagan years but actively laid groundwork for today's progressive movements, Martin does valuable work. Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe

A readable stroll into the bad old days ofPiss Christand Jesse Helms--and guaranteed to make you dig up your Black Flag and Minor Threat tapes. Kirkus Reviews

Should be required reading for strategists on the left. David Mulcahey, Bookforum

A valuable picture of thl.