A principal theme of the 1920s was "paradox," and Professor Carter explains the tensions that existed between city and country, progress and nostalgia for the past, progressive attitudes and the persistence of bigotry. Carter also provides incisive reevaluations of some archetypal figures of the era, such as Coolidge, Lindbergh, and Hemingway, and suggests new ways of considering events and developments such as jazz, popular sports, the Scopes trial, and isolationism.

Paul A. Carter is the author of The Twenties in America, 2nd Edition, published by Wiley.