Robert M. Crunden

"The discussion of each period is wide-ranging, analyzing movements and spotlighting major figures in politics and philosophy, law and literature, economics and education, jazz and journalism, science and civil rights. A readable, insightful overview of the underlying patterns that give shape to U.S. cultural history. Nonacademic readers will find Crunden's selective bibliographical essay helpful". -- Booklist

A unique history of the evolution of modernism focuses on the role of American "salons"--informal gatherings of intellectuals--in disseminating new modernist ideas from Europe.

Ministers of Reform vividly depicts the spiritual odyssey of an entire generation and shows how Protestant roots and a common "climate of creativity" nurtured a host of Progressive leaders from all walks of life. Crunden demonstrates that the same spirit of nnovation and moral rectitude so typical of the era's politics also characterized its artistic endeavors.