Sean Wilentz’s 2008 book The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008 is a center-left historical survey of American politics during the time Reagan was a dominant figure. Using archives, carefully checked secondary sources, newspapers, and official government reports and recently available sources from the Reagan and Bush presidential libraries, Wilentz offers a “chronical of American history, focused on political history, after 1974” critical of Reagan’s policies. Wilentz touches on PATCO enough to criticize Reagan for his reaction to the strike and refers to it as part of Reagan’s “assault”. In addition, Wilentz’s criticism of Reagan’s reaction as governor to student protests shows Reagan’s anti-protest ideals. Wilentz does not support the …show more content…
He does not aim to present a new argument and clearly states that this book fulfills a need for an accessible survey of Cold War history for younger students. Gaddis succeeds in his aim to be accessible through the easily readable, narrative style of The Cold War. He does not use any primary sources in his this book but only relies on secondary sources from Cold War historian, including himself. Gaddis does discuss Poland and Solidarność but only as it relates to the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, his history is so broad it is hard to get a sense of each event’s importance or connect with any of the players. Gaddis’ book is considered a go to Cold War text which highlights the lack of detailed monographic analysis on