The tyranny of change

"John Chambers incorporates into his book the latest scholarship about the social, cultural, political, and economic changes that produced modern America. He illuminates the experiences of blacks, Asians, Latinos, as well other working men and women in the cities and countryside, as they struggled to improve their lives in a transformed economy.".

"While recognizing a "progressive ethos" - a mixture of idealistic vision and pragmatic reforms that characterized the period - Chambers elaborates the role of civic volunteerism as well as the state in achieving directed social change. He also emphasizes the importance of radical and conservative forces in shaping the so-called "Progressive Era.""--BOOK JACKET.