The Wilson era Book

Standardization, bureaucratization, systematization, professionalism, middle class rationality. Wait, don't leave! These boring yet vital topics are the subjects of this boring yet vital book (for historians). Wiebe charts the seismic, structural shift in how American society organized itself from the 1870's to the 1920's. Starting off as a nation that defined and judged itself on a small-town basis from a small town-persepctive, the US wound up by the 1920's as a society run by and defined by the values of an educated, rationalistic, professional middle class. This new MC sought to reorganize society along more rational, orderly, and practical lines. They drove Progressivism, which Wiebe sees as an attempt to impose order on the lowly and exalted in American society. They professionalized occupations like the law, medicine, journalism, and, of course, business management. Wiebe interestingly argues that Wilson's ideals were in many ways attempts to spread the middle class order to the rest of the world. Although he is vague on what the previous order was and how it collapsed, Wiebe convincingly shows how a vital, energetic, and powerful new class of people arose in this period to redefine the nation.

I must say that I do not find the history of politics, economics, and social issues in this time period particularly interesting. WThis is partially a result of not knowing enough, as I probably would have enjoyed Wiebe more if I had more info on the era. Still, this book makes for slow and dull reading, with all due respect for the late Mr. Wiebe. He tends to be vague about what group of people or set of ideas he's talking about, which makes the book extra hard to follow. This is one of those books that pretty much only historians should bother reading, although they should teach its main ideas.