Sean Wilentz Bücher

Wilentz geht zunächst den Einflüssen nach, die Dylans Musik und seine Texte prägten: Aron Copland, in Dylans Kindheitder Inbegriff ›ernster‹ amerikanischer Musik, sein großes Vorbild Woody Guthrie, die Musiker und Dichter des Folk-Revival und der Beat-Generation. Die folgenden Kapitel beschreiben Schlüsselmomente in Dylans Laufbahn: das Konzert in der Philharmonic Hall Ende Oktober 1964, in dem er bestürzende neue Songs wie 'Gates of Eden' und 'It’s Alright, Ma' ausprobierte, die Aufnahmen zu Dylans Markstein ›Blonde On Blonde‹ in New York und Nashville 1965/66; die 'Rolling Thunder Revue'-Tour von 1975 und schließlich die Geburt von 'Blind Willie McTell', einer von Dylans großartigsten Songs überhaupt. Danach macht Wilentz einen Sprung in die Jahre 1992/93, als Dylan, dessen Karriere seit einem Jahrzehnt stagnierte, auf der Suche nach Inspiration auf die traditionelle Folkmusik und den frühen Blues zurückgriff. Das Buch befasst sich mit diesem entscheidenden Moment in Dylans Karriere, indem es zwei sehr verschiedene Songs unter die Lupe nimmt, die Dylan 1993 eingespielt hat: 'Delia', einen der ersten Bluessongs, die je geschrieben wurden, und 'Lone Pilgrim', ein altes geistliches Lied aus der Sacred-Harp-Tradition. Die letzten Kapitel beschäftigen sich mit Dylans Werk von ›Love And Theft‹ im Jahre 2001 bis zu seinem Weihnachtsalbum ›Christmas In The Heart‹ Ende 2009.

Winner of the Bancroft Award: Monumental...a tour de force...awesome in its coverage of political events.-Gordon Wood, New York Times Book Review

"One of our most eminent historians reminds us of the commanding role party politics has played in America's enduring struggle against economic inequality. 'There are two keys to unlocking the secrets of American politics and American political history.' So begins The Politicians & the Egalitarians, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz's bold new work of history. First, America is built on an egalitarian tradition. At the nation's founding, Americans believed that extremes of wealth and want would destroy their revolutionary experiment in republican government. Ever since, that idea has shaped national political conflict and scored major egalitarian victories--from the Civil War and Progressive eras to the New Deal and the Great Society--along the way. Second, partisanship is a permanent fixture in America, and America is the better for it. Every major egalitarian victory in United States history has resulted neither from abandonment of partisan politics nor from social movement protests but from a convergence of protest and politics, and then sharp struggles led by principled and effective party politicians. There is little to be gained from the dream of a post-partisan world. With these two insights Sean Wilentz offers a crystal-clear portrait of American history, told through politicians and egalitarians including Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, and W.E.B. Du Bois--a portrait that runs counter to current political and historical thinking. As he did with his acclaimed The Rise of American Democracy, Wilentz once again completely transforms our understanding of this nation's political and moral character"--Provided by publisher

Driving straight to the heart of the most contentious issue in American history, Sean Wilentz argues controversially that, far from concealing a crime against humanity, the U.S. Constitution limited slavery's legitimacy-a limitation which in time inspired the antislavery politics that led to Southern secession, the Civil War, and Emancipation.

The past thirty-five years have marked an era of conservatism. Although briefly interrupted in the late 1970s and temporarily reversed in the 1990s, a powerful surge from the right dominated American politics and government from 1974 to 2008. In The Age of Reagan, Sean Wilentz, one of our nation's leading historians, accounts for how a conservative movement once deemed marginal managed to seize power and hold it, and describes the momentous consequences that followed. Vivid, authoritative, and illuminating from start to finish, The Age of Reagan is a groundbreaking chronicle of America's political history since the fall of Nixon.

An eminent historian reminds us of the commanding role party politics has played in America's enduring struggle against economic inequality.