The Search for Order, 1877-1920

At the end of the Reconstruction, the spread of science and technology, industrialism, urbanization, immigration, and economic depressions eroded Americans' conventional beliefs in individualism and a divinely ordained social system. In The Search for Order, Robert Wiebe shows how, in subsequent years, during theProgressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, Americans sought the organizing principles around which a new viable social order could be constructed in the modern world. This subtle and sophisticated study combines the virtues of historical narrative, sociological analysis, and social criticism.

Customer Reviews:

A "Revolution in Values" Thoroughly Explained

By mwreview "mwreview" - September 29, 2001

In "The Search for Order," Robert Wiebe provides perhaps the first unifying overview of the American Progressive period. Beginning with the Reconstruction era, Wiebe presents the United States as "a nation of loosely connected islands." The economic panic of 1873 began what Wiebe describes as as a "soul searching" period for these homogenous, stable, primarily Protestant "island communities." America was noticeably changing from simple, locally-oriented communities guided by small town ethics to complex, interdependent societies seemingly controlled by distant and impersonal forces. Wiebe explains the ways in which Americans sought to regain some sense of order as this rapidly changing nation rumbled through the first decades of the twentieth century.A "revolution in values" took place during this "search for order." Wiebe traces a pattern of "bureaucratization" in such diverse areas as science, philosophy,... read more

Groundbreaking Study

By J. Hart - December 6, 2000

This book set the agenda for research in Gilded Age/Progressive Era studies for the current generation of American historians. It is a groundbreaking study which is not overly long and is very well written. It is one of the most widely used overview texts for the period in graduate history courses. If you only want to read one book on this period, make it this one.

FANTASTIC

By A Customer - June 22, 1998

Mr. Wiebe has done an excellent job of getting beneath all the confusion and conflict of America's history from the end of Reconstruction to the eve of the 1920's. To understand how many of the elements of our modern society came into being, and how and why the United States became a world power, one must go back to this period (1877-1920) to trace their origins. The book, while revealing many triumphs of our nation at this time, also reminds us of the tragedies which inevitably shaped our country's present course (ie World War I). Overall, it is a book of great value, for it sheds some much needed light on a very complex portion of our nation's history.