audiobook Century of Difference: How America Changed in the Last One Hundred Years by Claude S. Fischer; Michael Hout in History

Review

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Quick; clear; objective; interesting sociological overview of what America is like todayBy Andy RowellBerkeley sociology professors Fischer and Hout give a great overview of what America is like and how it changed from 1900 to 2000 using quality survey data. They identify and summarize trends but mostly refrain from drawing strong conclusions. They write well and the chapters are pleasantly short.Why buy the book?(1) This is an excellent resource for when you need a quote or a statistic about something you are researching. This is a quality; reputable resource that can be quoted in academic papers. Some of this information you could find on the internet but you would not be sure of its quality; nor if the statistics were being interpreted correctly.(2) One cannot help but perceive the world from one's own experiences and observations. Fischer and Hout fill in that perspective with quality data. For example; they give the statistical data about how perceptions about women in the workplace have changed; how church affiliation has changed; how the attainment of college degrees have changed; and how income disparity has changed. They also provide the relevant data from the year 2000. Century of Difference helps put into perspective the statistics and poll data that one hears on the news.Conclusion: We were assigned this book in the first week of a sociology course at Duke University. Century of Difference helps college students begin to see the ways patterns of work; education; race; geography; religion and values have changed in the past 100 years in the U.S.A. If you want to be a more thoughtful person; read these 10 chapters (which will take you a 1/2 hour each). You won't be blown away; but you will be a better thinker and more interesting conversationalist.