A Bubble in Time: America During the Interwar Years, 1989-2001 - Hardcover

Few historians possess the literary gifts of William O'Neill, whose previous books on the 1950s and the 1960s remain gems of modern American history. O'Neill's great strength is his ability to weave the disparate strands of politics and popular culture into a seamless story-a trend he continues with A Bubble in Time, a witty and wickedly perceptive account of American life in the decade of Desert Storm, Bill Clinton, O. J. Simpson and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is narrative history at its finest. -- David Oshinsky, author of Polio: An American Story The 1990s truly were, as William O'Neill writes, a 'decade of lost chances.' In this shrewd, pungently written book, he recounts the folly and frivolity of those years while mourning the immense opportunities that Americans squandered. -- Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism Well written and evenhanded, with a taut, perceptive narrative, William O'Neill's A Bubble in Time does for the 1990s what Frederick Lewis Allen and Only Yesterday did for the 1920s. -- Lewis L. Gould, author of The Modern American Presidency Many of us who survived the fitful years between the end of the Cold War and the start of the so-called War on Terror often had trouble connecting the dots-from The Mother of Battles to Black Hawk Down, from O. J.'s black glove to Monica's blue dress. We all owe a debt to the historical grasp of William L. O'Neill. A Bubble in Time recasts those episodes and others into a gestalt that makes more sense than the sum of its memorable but disjointed parts. And in the process he helps us to a better understanding of the twenty-first-century history we are now living through. -- Robert Shogan, Author of No Sense of Decency: The Army-McCarthy Hearings From the triumphs and scandals of the Clinton years to the Simpson trial, O'Neill's outstanding recent history has all of the concision, insight, and wit of his wonderful classic, Coming Apart. -- Michael O'Brien, author of Rethinking Kennedy O'Neill is one of the most impressive scholars of mid-century America, and now he has emerged as an equally important interpreter of an era that is just making the transition from newspaper headlines to history. -- Victor Brooks, author of Boomers Gives a reader the chance to time travel back to a wild era. . . . Highly readable. * Connecticut Post * O'Neill applies an understated sense of humor and irony to connect the many dots in his narrative. * The American Conservative * An intelligent reading of 12 years in recent U.S. history. * Publishers Weekly * A powerful social history, this deserves a place in any contemporary American history library. * Midwest Book Review * Like a memorable college course, this book is both entertaining and edifying. -- Adera Causey * Chattanooga Times Free Press * Students of U.S. history will relish this book, which lets us look at the 1989-2001 era with the perspective of the passage of nearly a decade. O'Neill's contribution to understanding that period is to be treasured. -- Dennie Hall * The Oklahoman *

The all-too-brief period of relative tranquility that extended from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of the War on Terror is the subject of William L. O'Neill's brilliant new study of recent American history. Mr. O'Neill's sharp eye for the telling incident and the apt quotation combine with an acute historical judgment to make A Bubble in Time a compellingly readable informal history.