Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times. But we've been here before, suggests Robert Putnam, who points out that in the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, and fiercely polarized. As the 20th century opened, the nation became more egalitarian and cooperative; during the 1960s, however, these trends reversed, leaving us in today's disarray. Looking back and ahead, Putnam examines an era when dedicated reformers righted the ship, to establish a society once again based on community.