Because of its rapid growth, ubiquitous popular culture, and global power, almost everyone knows many things about the United States. But often these many facts float about rather freely. For those who need a chronology and orientation mixed with scholarly insight, this is the book you need. For research, for studying, for trivia. And for putting the right events in the right order. The book is a timeline: it organises the political, social, literary, and cultural events of each year of the twentieth century, plus the beginning of the 21st century, with very short essays suggesting how these many events fit into larger patterns.