On Grand Expectations
Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. pp. 829. Paperback.
This is one of the best in the Oxford History of the United States series. Patterson does an excellent job balancing “high politics”—whether through the White House, Congress, or the Supreme Court—with on-the-ground coverage of social movements, economic transformations, and popular opinion. Patterson is a bit more conservative in his assessments of the period than I would be, but the text is generally very balanced and informative.