Reagan

American Icon

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Pub Date 6 Feb 2017 | Archive Date 6 Feb 2017

Description

Ronald Reagan redefined the Republican Party in the 1980s. Using new sources, this new biography sheds light on the Hollywood actor who changed American politics forever.

Ronald Reagan is often considered the most successful Republican president of post-war America and the leader which successive Republican leaders have tried to measure up to - from George W Bush to Donald Trump.

As a dramatic new era dawns for the Republican Party, understanding Reagan’s legacy as a champion of conservatism is crucial.This timely new biography offers a full portrait of the President credited with driving an end to the Cold War and reviving economic prosperity in the 1980s.Using new archival sources, Morgan’s assessment traces the long path of Reagan’s life and career, providing a meticulously researched portrait of the defining traits and policies of his leadership. The resounding message is important and hugely relevant: Reagan became a true American icon because of his optimism and his ability to article America’s best values – even if he did not always live up to them.

Iwan Morgan is Professor of US Studies and Commonwealth Fund Professor of American History at UCL. He is a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institude and was awarded the British Association of American Studies Honorary Fellowship
in 2014. His previous books include
The Age of Deficits: Presidents and Unbalanced
Budgets from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush (winner of the Richard Neustadt
book prize), and
Nixon and Beyond the Liberal Consensus: A Political History of the United States since 1965.
Ronald Reagan redefined the Republican Party in the 1980s. Using new sources, this new biography sheds light on the Hollywood actor who changed American politics forever.

Ronald Reagan is often...

Advance Praise

‘WOW! It's all here – and I mean all of it – in Iwan Morgan's superb biography of America's fortieth president. I would never have believed how much I didn't know about a fellow Californian I first met in the spring of 1946. But when a distinguished historian with a wonderful way with words doubles as a prodigious researcher the pages are going to fly. Hey, the Gipper's back. Enjoy the ride.’ – Alex Butterfield, former Deputy Assistant to President Nixon

‘Iwan Morgan's Reagan is a fast-paced narrative, superbly organized and judiciously argued, about the life and times of America's fortieth president. Before going elsewhere, both academics and general audiences should first read this exceptional volume as the introduction to this complex topic.’ – Irwin F. Gellman, author of The President and the Apprentice: Eisenhower and Nixon, 1952–1961

‘As one might expect from such an influential and controversial personality, Ronald Reagan has been the subject of much biography, running from the meticulous but essentially critical works of Lou Cannon to the bizarre biographical fantasy by Edmund Morris. Iwan Morgan’s new book, benefiting from the elapse of time, the fading of old resentments and the appearance of rival subjects of both admiration and disdain, stands every chance of emerging as the standard life. Morgan has brought to its writing formidable but also thoughtful and critical research and a lively style. His research has given him a sure grasp of Reagan’s improbable journey from small-town Middle West, through Hollywood’s Golden Age into national and international politics. Morgan’s greatest virtue is his fairness. He does justice to Reagan’s authentic faith in the essential virtue of America and to the individual, non-ideological quality of his conservative faith. At the same time he is not afraid to point out the contradictions in Reagan’s beliefs, the limitations of his political credo and the occasional mistakes and absurdities of his political career. Wise, fair and witty, Iwan Morgan’s life of Reagan is likely to be accepted by both the admirers and the critics of the fortieth president as both trustworthy and readable.’ – Godfrey Hodgson, author of The Myth of American Exceptionalism and former Washington correspondent for The Observer

‘Iwan Morgan has written a hugely valuable account of a highly consequential life. Reagan is engagingly written and exhaustively researched – the grounding in archival sources adds real depth to the portrayal of Reagan the person, performer, governor and president. Morgan’s assessment of Reagan is nuanced and refreshingly non-partisan, giving credit and finding fault where each is appropriately due. Readers will come away appreciating the intriguing complexity of the man, and the immense impact of his career.’ – Andrew Rudalevige, T.B. Reed Professor of Government, Bowdoin College

‘Iwan Morgan's highly intelligent and authoritative Reagan accomplishes the rare feat of elucidating President Reagan's complex personal psychology, his core values and his economic and political policies. In this concise and fair-minded portrait, Morgan shows us how this optimistic and pragmatic man became a consequential president who not only represented his times, but helped steer the course of history in a conservative direction. Morgan does not shy away from exploring Reagan's failures including his lack of empathy for AIDS patients and African-Americans.’ – Will Swift, author of Pat and Dick: The Nixons, an Intimate Portrait of a Marriage

‘This is exactly what presidential scholars have been waiting for: a study of Ronald Reagan that avoids simplistic partisan judgements in developing an interpretation that is both critical and sympathetic. Lucid, fluent, perspicacious, and grounded in a keen appreciation of the broader themes of US history, this is an outstanding work by one of Britain's foremost historians of modern America.’ – Mark White, Professor of History, Queen Mary University of London

‘WOW! It's all here – and I mean all of it – in Iwan Morgan's superb biography of America's fortieth president. I would never have believed how much I didn't know about a fellow Californian I first...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781780767475
PRICE US$29.95 (USD)

Average rating from 4 members


Featured Reviews

I would like to thank Iwan Morgan, I.B. Tauris and Netgalley for giving me this book for my honest review.

Review By Stephanie

4.5 Stars

Iwan Morgan takes a in depth look into the America's fortieth president Ronald Reagan. I am a fan of Ronald and the Reagan family so I was shocked at the amount of information I did not know about Ronald. But I was not surprised that many presidential candidates try to live up to the standards this man set.

Iwan Morgan did an amazing job writing this superb biography. I was amazing reading this book during the current presidential election, especially with the message that Iwan echoed throughout this book. He was one of American’s favorite presidents because of his optimism and love for our great country. Of course in true biography style Ronald did not always live up to the high standards.

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