The Fourth Turning

Rarely has a book been so informative, educational, and necessary that was also hard for me to grasp (I've read Common Sense, The Communist Manifesto, and What is Seen and What is Not Seen without problems). I'm usually a quick study, but I had to reread several portions of this book to retain the information. Maybe that has nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me and my current life phase (there was a lot of noise during my attempts to read). I'm not sure.

First of all, this is a MUST READ for anyone concerned about the current state of affairs in the United States of America and those who wonder what the future will hold. This book shows patterns, predictable patterns, of American history and predicts that we are currently in a Crisis situation. The book was written in 1997, before the current Crisis catalyst, which took place on 9/11/2001. That major event of 9/11 changed us as a nation and we can never go back to the way we were before.

That said, the current Crisis is expected to last for 20-25 years, meaning we are nearing the mid-point of the current Crisis cycle. All of America's previous Crisis periods involved war - The American Revolution, the Civil War, World War II, and now ____? All of the logic in this book was thoroughly explained with examples and deep conversation into the why and how this happens.

Let's just say...I'm a little freaked out by it all!

I could go into greater detail about how and why this happens, but that is really what the book teaches and I could not do it justice here.

My Criticism for this Book:

1. The writing is very long and boring. I think the first part of the book is so long-winded and unnecessary as to turn a lot of people off to finishing the book. They could have used more layman's terms and been more precise and the book would have been much easier to understand and enjoyable.
2. The authors over-generalize a lot of the stereotypes. I felt that too much was assumed with a broad stroke. (But then, if you read the book you will understand that I am looking at the book as a Nomad from the 13er generation (Generation X) who sees things individually rather than collectively.)
   

With that said, I still think there was a lot of truth to this book and should be read and discussed openly.