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A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920. By Michael McGerr. (New York: Free Press, 2003. xvi, 395 pp. $30.00, ISBN 0-684-85975-0.)
Sometime during the latter stages of the Victorian age, in a phenomenon known as the Progressive movement, American public life experienced a far-reaching reorientation. During the 1980s and 1990s, the conventional wisdom remained that this phenomenon was so dispersed and diverse as to defy generalization; consequently, most scholars avoided attempts at synthesis. Offering a new overview of Progressive Era America, Michael McGerr's A Fierce Discontent is a welcome addition to the literature about early twentieth-century reform. In this intelligently conceived, broadly constructed, and engagingly written study, the author offers numerous new insights.
McGerr is concerned chiefly with the zeitgeist of late...