This is the most important book on American sociology since DeTocqueville. Identifying four strains of early American culture, it shows how these competing cultures have shaped the United States and continue to define us today. Why did American feminists conclude that President Clinton did indeed rape Juanita Broadrick, but that his behavior was acceptable? It may have less to do with politics and more to do with the fact that in early Virginia society, men were expected to be sexual predators. How can mutli-cultural America avoid fragmentation? See how early Pennsylvania society created institutions which allowed various cultures to flourish under one authority. Covering everything from cuisine to politics, from speech patterns to architecture, Mr. Fischer, America's most important historian, gives us a better understanding of the present and the future.