Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism-Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times. But we've been here before, says Robert Putnam. America's "poet laureate of civil society" (The New York Times), Putnam brilliantly analyzes wide-ranging economic, social, cultural, and political trends from the Gilded Age to the present to show how we once went from an individualistic "I" society to a more communitarian "we" society before we slipped back again. He explains how we can apply the lessons from that experience to become a stronger, more unified nation. Timely and revelatory, The Upswing is a tour de force of historical research and synthesis. Book jacket.