4/5

5 years later and I’m still a big fan of these Perlstein books even if they are a little uneven. Before the Storm was better than I recalled and I enjoyed a closer look at the Johnson Administration. Goldwater and what he represents are basically the world I was born into, so stepping back to the ‘American Consensus’ is always a bit of a trip and an enlightening delve into the world of my grandparents. I’m still recommending these to people but curious if my opinion on the next 3 books has changed significantly since I was 24.