American Maelstrom by Michael A. Cohen does a great job of presenting the 1968 election in the larger context of what that historical moment means to American history. For those of us who still hold strong feelings about the election Cohen manages to avoid very much in the way of partisanship so that the story and its aftermath comes through clearly.

This work does what a good political history book should do: take the information most of us (those old enough to remember it and/or those who have studied it) know and present it in a manner that makes and supports an argument larger than just who won the election. It is the synthesis of the information into a reasonable hypothesis that makes this more than simply the story of the 1968 election. What did it mean for both parties at that time, who was on the rise and who was fading from view? What sort of tactics introduced here would become common in elections to come? The answers to these questions lead directly to the chaos that is the 2016 election.

There are plenty of "good guys" and "bad guys" for readers across the political spectrum. The mistakes made and the strategies implemented will likely anger all who believe that democracy should be used to better the country not to promote one party over the other through manipulation.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in political history as well as political science. While Cohen admirably weaves the events into a larger tale, he does so in a manner that should allow those unfamiliar with the 1968 election to follow along wonderfully. Well worth the read as well to better understand how we got to where we are now with two parties unwilling to work together.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )