Frank Peter Slotkus John H. Hamline Elementary School

Having always been interested in the role of government concerning its citizen's lives, I approached H.W. Brands's The Strange Death of American Liberalism as if it were a manual to a better understanding of what liberalism is as well as if it were actually dead. After reading the introduction of the book, I still had a few questions concerning how liberalism should be defined. These questions would soon be answered as I plowed through the easily readable, one hundred seventy seven page book.

There are some wonderful aspects of this book that a recreational student of history would most certainly enjoy. One of the greatest strengths of Brands's book is that it covers a wide range of historical periods and subsequent topics while it avoids lengthy passages and lofty statements that can lead to stagnation. Some of the author's points forced me to reread a few sentences in awe at the ability of Brands's approach to examine an issue at an entirely different, unconventional angle. For example, Brands makes the bold assertion that the Cold War actually ended during the momentous year of 1972 when Richard Nixon visited Communist China as well as the year in which the SALT treaties were signed with the Soviet Union. Granted, this is an extremely early time to place the Cold War at its end, but it provided an immediate shock to the system of thinking as well as created some interesting questions. Another major strength of this book is Brands's treatment of the links between domestic and foreign issues as they simultaneously occurred so that the reader will better understand the intricate links between how domestic issues affect foreign ones and vice versa. Another refreshing trait of this book is Brand's propensity to write in a provocative style that can be termed as both bold and entertaining. For example, in a section dedicated to the discussion of Bill Clinton's liberal aspirations, Brands chose to title the section "The Evolution of Falling Expectations." These types of wordplays were a welcomed change from the obvious and unimaginative section titles that one usually encounters when reading historical literature.

Some of the cons associated with the book were that it too often focuses on history that can be described as one that it is written from the top down as opposed to the bottom up style. This, as one participant at our colloquium stated, "allows Brands to focus on government policies while avoiding evidence that doesn't fit in with his central argument." For example, as was mentioned above, Brands placed the end of the Cold War in 1972. This was an eye opening date, but we can clearly see Brands's motivation for not even mentioning the boycotts of the Moscow Olympics in 1980, nor the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, which are genuinely regarded as some of the chilliest moments of the Cold War. As the above points illustrate, one of Brands's most significant shortcomings as a historical author comes in the form of his "all or nothing" approach that at times leads the reader in the direction of seeking missing information that Brands's may have "filtered" while putting together his historical account.

The next issue that shall be dealt with concerns how to teach my students some of the concepts that I learned while reading this book. Using Brands's book as a guidepost, I will focus on teaching the students about some of the pitfalls that authors can easily fall into while writing a historical account, Students will also learn about biased history writing thorough the comparing and contrasting of history textbooks dealing with or maybe even ignoring the same issues. Lastly, one of the central themes of this book is Brands's belief that people expect more of the government during times of war. With this said, I will devise a research opportunity for students to compare and contrast the American government's role in its citizen's lives during the generally peaceful 1980s and 1990s against their lives during these tumultuous times.

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