certify image
Rated 4.8/5 based on 2148 reviews.
Great Society: A New History
  • Product ID: 9780061706424
  • Availability: in stock. Ships next working day In stock Out of stock -

Great Society: A New History

$15.00 $49.95
Author: Amity Shlaes

Format: Hardback

Number of Pages: 528


The New York Times bestselling author of The Forgotten Man and Coolidge offers a stunning revision of our last great period of idealism, the 1960s, with burning relevance for our contemporary challenges. Great Society is accurate history that reads like a novel, covering the high hopes and catastrophic missteps of our well-meaning leaders. --Alan Greenspan Today, a battle rages in our country. Many Americans are attracted to socialism and economic redistribution while opponents of those ideas argue for purer capitalism. In the 1960s, Americans sought the same goals many seek now: an end to poverty, higher standards of living for the middle class, a better environment and more access to health care and education. Then, too, we debated socialism and capitalism, public sector reform versus private sector advancement. Time and again, whether under John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, or Richard Nixon, the country chose the public sector. Yet the targets of our idealism proved elusive. What's more, Johnson's and Nixon's programs shackled millions of families in permanent government dependence. Ironically, Shlaes argues, the costs of entitlement commitments made a half century ago preclude the very reforms that Americans will need in coming decades. In Great Society, Shlaes offers a powerful companion to her legendary history of the 1930s, The Forgotten Man, and shows that in fact there was scant difference between two presidents we consider opposites: Johnson and Nixon. Just as technocratic military planning by "the Best and the Brightest" made failure in Vietnam inevitable, so planning by a team of the domestic best and brightest guaranteed fiasco at home. At once history and biography, Great Society sketches moving portraits of the characters in this transformative period, from U.S. Presidents to the visionary UAW leader Walter Reuther, the founders of Intel, and Federal Reserve chairmen William McChesney Martin and Arthur Burns. Great Society casts new light on other figures too, from Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, to the socialist Michael Harrington and the protest movement leader Tom Hayden. Drawing on her classic economic expertise and deep historical knowledge, Shlaes upends the traditional narrative of the era, providing a damning indictment of the consequences of thoughtless idealism with striking relevance for today. Great Society captures a dramatic contest with lessons both dark and bright for our own time.
  • Author: Amity Shlaes

  • Format: Hardback
  • Tags: December-2022, Hardback, History, The Americas
  • Barcode: 9780061706424
  • Please note that some books may be Remainder Marked
  • We offer Flat Rate Shipping Australia-wide on all orders, no matter how many books you buy. We also offer FREE in-store pickup at any of our Book Grocer stores around Australia.

    Currently we do not ship outside Australia. We have a separate website for New Zealand customers which can be found here.

    NB. Occasionally we open up a shipping window to allow New Zealand customers to order from the Australian website, and have their order shipped in the next shipping container.  Details of our shipping window can be found in our blog

    Shipping Costs

    Please see the table below for your shipping rate:

     State Shipping Cost (Flat rate)
    VIC, NSW, ACT, SA, TAS and QLD $10
    WA and NT

    $20

     

    If you would like to ship items to more than one address, please place separate orders for these items. 

    Shipping Time

    We endeavour to process your item(s) within 24/48 business hours. We use a combination of Australia Post (for smaller orders) and a shipping company to deliver your order.  You can expect your items within 4-5 days outside peak (Christmas) season. 

    For in-store pickup: Our warehouse is Melbourne-based. We deliver customer orders to our stores on a regular but somewhat unpredictable schedule. If you are based in Melbourne your order is likely to arrive at your selected store earlier than if you select an interstate in-store pickup option.

    Pickup from our Bourke, Spencer and Northcote stores could take up to 1 week to receive your order. 

    Pickup from our Newcastle and Majura stores could take up to 2 weeks to receive your order.

    Pickup from our Tullamarine Warehouse your order will be ready the next business day.

    Your chosen store will get in touch with you by email to let you know your book has arrived. 

    Wondering about what happened to our previous Free Shipping policy? Our reasons for making this change can be found here

    Change of Mind - Remainder Marks

    Generally we do not accept returns due to a change of mind. 

    Our books are remainders which means that they occasionally have a texta mark at the base of the book.  This is one reason our prices are so low.  Unfortunately we cannot accept returns for books that are marked in this way. 

    Change of Mind - Mystery Boxes

    We do not generally provide a change-of-mind refund simply because a Mystery Box contains books you are not interested in.  Any refunds we may give will be on a discretionary basis and will depend on the box being shipped back to us. You would be required to pay return shipping for your box.

    Mystery Box - Important to Read:  We do our best to ensure that our Mystery Boxes contain books selected from a wide range of categories.  (Aside from specific Mystery Boxes such as YA Mystery, of course).  As such, you're almost certainly not going to love all the books.  However, they are about $3 each, so can be re-gifted, used for craft, used to bulk out your collection, saved for a hobby you don't yet have... it's up to you!

    We will, however, provide you with a refund for any duplicates of the same title in a Mystery (or any) Box.  Please send a photograph with your email.  The refund is calculated as a proportion of the number of books in the box. 

    If you are concerned you might not like the books in a Mystery Box, we strongly encourage you to try one of our category boxes instead - which have the full book list published in the description.  

    Damaged or incorrect orders 

    If you have received items that are damaged or incorrect please contact us at help@bookgrocer.com.

    Please note that we will assess damages and any returns/refunds are at our discretion.  Full information about damage criteria can be found here.

    If your return is accepted, we’ll send you a return shipping label, as well as instructions on how and where to send your package. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return will not be accepted. 

    Please inspect your order upon reception and contact us immediately if the item is defective, damaged or if you receive the wrong item, so that we can evaluate the issue and make it right.

    Exceptions / non-returnable items

    Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items or gift cards. 

    Refunds

    We will notify you once we’ve received and inspected your return, and let you know if the refund was approved or not. If approved, you’ll be automatically refunded on your original payment method. Please remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too.

    Customer Reviews

    Be the first to write a review
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)

    Related Products

    Recently Viewed Products

    Customer Reviews

    Be the first to write a review
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    BACK TO TOP