The Other Eighties: A Secret History of America in the Age of Reagan (Hill & Wang), by Bradford Martin

If the 1980s were the "Age of Reagan," Bryant University history professor Bradford Martin reminds us that not everyone sang the Gipper's tune. The Other Eighties is a succinct overview of the opposition and its effects. Example: Although the nuclear freeze movement eventually evaporated, it forced the Reagan administration to tone down its rhetoric and engage the Soviets on arms control. Perhaps the most successful oppositional movement countered Reagan's support for the Contras, casting his Central American adventures in a doubtful light. Despite a tendency toward generalization (not all post-punk bands were "guitar-based"), The Other Eighties is a valuable synthesis of political and cultural history during the Reagan era.