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Robert Putman's The Upswing (written with Shaylyn Romney Garrett) provides a powerful meta-analysis of American social, political, economic and cultural change throughout the twentieth century. What this analysis reveals is the existence of an almost perfect arc of social progress which begins from a low position around the Gilded Age at the beginning of the twentieth century and then climbs across all variables until reaching a highpoint around 1960. The Progressive Era, Putnam argues, engineered an 'upswing' against inequality, polarisation, social disarray and a culture of self-centredness. Since then, however, the data suggest that a severe downswing has occurred which explains the existence of deep divisions and polarised politics in the United States. Putnam's core argument is simple: The United States has pulled itself out of a trough before and it can do it again. In a post-Trump context, this argument could hardly be more welcome which may explain the rave reviews this book has generally received. Nevertheless, the core weakness of The Upswing is that it arguably tells us far more about how the United States 'came together a century ago' but far less about how it 'can do it again' in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews several books about political studies including "New Labour's Countryside: Rural Policy in Britain Since 1997," edited by Michael Woods, "Austerity Britain 1945-1951," by David Kynaston and "The State of the Nations 2008," edited by Alan Trench.

The article reviews several books about Great Britain and Ireland including "Political Choice in Britain," by Harold D. Clarke, David Sanders, Marianne C. Stewart and Paul Whiteley, "A History of the Liberal Party," by David Dutton, "Governing Medicine: Theory and Practice," by Andrew Gray and Stephen Harrison, "Singing the Blues: The Once and Future Conservatives," by John Redwood, and "Paradoxes of Power: Reflections on the Thatcher Interlude," by Alfred Sherman and edited by Mark Carnett.