Delirium

Praise for Delirium A thrilling and prescient story of America today. --Mike Davis An insightful look at the history of sexual mores and politics and how we got to such a contentious place. --Booklist In her critique of bipartisan extremism, historian Cohen expertly details its rise within the Democratic and Republican parties by mining seven presidential elections ... Cohen uses quantitative evidence to claim, quite cogently, that the sexual counterrevolution has overplayed its hand and that cultural progressivism is the new American way, making this book an impressive contribution to the political dialogue. --Publishers Weekly Nancy L. Cohen narrates the history and continued salience of the sexual backlash with the wisdom of a fine historian and the passion of a liberal activist. Delirium is an indispensable source for understanding how profoundly the politics of the body has swayed the body politic. --Michael Kazin, author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation With abortion rights, birth control, and gay marriage still roiling American politics, it is obvious that the conservative reaction against the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s remains a powerful force in our world today. Nancy L. Cohen, a lively writer and excellent historian, places our current situation in historical perspective, tracing how over the past forty years the sexual counterrevolution has helped shape the political landscape. A fascinating and disturbing book. --Eric Foner, Columbia University Nancy L. Cohen's Delirium is a provocative and original examination of the politics of equality--those who believe in our basic rights, and those who do not. She deftly takes us through forty years of history to explain why our country feels so divided, and, more importantly, how we can find our way back to rational political discourse. Anyone who cares about civil rights and the future of the country needs to read this book. --Lisa Bloom, legal analyst and New York Times bestselling author of Think