Richard M. Abrams is a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has been teaching since 1961. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1962. He was a Fulbright Professor at the University of London (1968-9) and Moscow State University (1989). Professor Abrams is the author of Conservatism in a Progressive Era: The Burdens of Progress and editor or co-editor of The Shaping of 20th Century America and The Issues of Populist and Progressive Eras.

Part I. Retrospect: 1. 'The American Century'; 2. Before the revolutions; 3. The challenge of power; 4. The inflation of moral possibilities; 5. The generational chasm; Part II. Eight Revolutions: 6. Affluence; 7. From isolation to hegemonic power; 8. The rise of the military; 9. The reorganization of the business system; 10. The revolution in racial relations; 11. The revolution in gender roles; 12. Revolution in sexual behavior and attitudes; 13. The demise of privacy; Part III. Counterrevolution: 14. Collapse of the Liberal Democratic coalition; 15. Liberalism: ascension and declension; 16. The Liberal Democratic coalition; 17. The failure syndrome; 18. Rise of the New Left and birth of 'neoconservatism'; 19. Right-wing ascendancy; 20. The Reagan revolution; 21. Summary; Part IV. 'The New American Century'.