A penetrating, character-filled history "in the manner of David McCullough" (WSJ), revealing the deep roots of our tormented present-day politics.

Democracy was broken. Or that was what many Americans believed in the decades after the Civil War. Shaken by economic and technological disruption, they sought safety in aggressive, tribal partisanship. The results were the loudest, closest, most violent elections in U.S. history, driven by vibrant campaigns that drew our highest-ever voter turnouts. At the century's end, reformers finally restrained this wild system, trading away participation for civility in the process. They built a calmer, cleaner democracy, but also a more distant one. Americans' voting rates crashed and never fully recovered.

This is the origin story of the "normal" politics of the 20th century. Only by exploring where that civility and restraint came from can we understand what is happening to our democracy today.

The Age of Acrimony charts therise and fall of 19th-century America's unruly politics through the lives of a remarkable father-daughter dynasty. The radical congressman William "Pig Iron" Kelley and his fiery, Progressive daughter Florence Kelley led lives packed with drama, intimately tied to their nation's politics. Through their friendships and feuds, campaigns and crusades, Will and Florie trace the narrative of a democracy in crisis. In telling the tale of what it cost to cool our republic, historian Jon Grinspan reveals our divisive political system's enduring capacity to reinvent itself.

• We started tracking this book on April 29, 2021.
• This book was $12.60 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 26 times in the past 1,323 days.
• The current price of this book is $3.99 last checked 18 minutes ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on August 2, 2021.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $12.60 last reached on August 16, 2024.
• This book has been $12.60 11 times since we started tracking it.

• History

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 376 Pages
• File Size: 34,061 KB