Jonathan Kaufman’s recent book, *When America Roared: How the 1980s Saved, Then Broke, the Country — and Led Us to Today*, offers a narrative centered on the transformative decade of the 1980s in the United States, examining how the era’s embrace of market-driven policies reshaped the nation’s economic and social landscape. The author situates the Reagan administration’s tenure as a pivotal period that both revived economic dynamism following the stagnation of the 1970s and set the stage for the inequality and political discontent evident in later decades.

The book unfolds through interconnected profiles of notable figures emblematic of the decade’s trends. Among them is Jack Welch, the General Electric CEO whose aggressive dismantling of unions and corporate restructuring symbolized the era’s market-oriented ethos. Welch’s trajectory is contrasted with Karen Nussbaum, a former anti-Vietnam War activist who spearheaded the 9to5 movement to organize office workers and promote labor rights, illustrating the broader conflict between labor activism and corporate resistance in the period. Kaufman highlights the decline of union power, attributing its acceleration to Reagan’s presidency, though some historians argue that attacks on organized labor predated this administration and were rooted in longer-standing economic and political shifts.

The author also discusses John Rogers, the Black investor whose rise in 1980s Chicago is linked to laying groundwork for Barack Obama’s political ascent, and Evan Wolfson, a Yale graduate whose efforts brought gay marriage from political debate to viable legal pursuit, demonstrating the era’s complex social transformations.

One of Kaufman’s more original contributions is his portrayal of Mark Fowler, Reagan’s first Federal Communications Commission chairman. Drawing on interviews, Kaufman recounts how Fowler’s deregulation of television and radio ownership, motivated in part by his frustrations as a college radio DJ, had profound and lasting impacts on American media. However, Kaufman’s analysis of this deregulation’s consequences, such as the rise of right-wing talk radio figures like Rush Limbaugh, has faced critique. He attributes Limbaugh’s popularity to a base of predominantly middle- and lower-class white men reacting against elite media. Critics contend this view oversimplifies the audience’s demographics and political motivations, noting Limbaugh’s own statements prioritizing wealthier callers.

Kaufman’s narrative is ultimately strongest when it moves beyond the confines of the decade-focused framework, offering insights drawn from his own career as a journalist. He recalls covering events such as the Tiananmen Square massacre and the final collapse of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, moments that underscore the complexity of historical change beyond rigid temporal boundaries.

While *When America Roared* provides valuable portraits and raises important questions about the legacies of the 1980s, its framing within a single decade may limit its analytical depth. The book underscores the challenge of isolating a specific era as uniquely definitive in history, reminding readers of the broader, often invisible currents that shape societal transformation over time.