| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.5

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 106.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Lisa McGirr. Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right. (Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. Pp. xiii, 395. $29.95.

Lisa McGirr identifies Orange County, California ("Reagan Country") as the point of origin and laboratory for comprehending the rise of modern conservatism between 1960 and 1980. McGirr locates conservatives' growing electoral success in their adaptation to altered circumstances, their ability to alter their targets to the requirements of changing times, and their skill in appealing to modern, suburban voters (the "emerging Republican majority," in Kevin Phillips's memorable formulation). 1

In a crisp, clear, and (usually dispassionate) style, McGirr argues that the new right in Orange County drew from three wells. In addition to a conservatism (and a Christian evangelicalism) that was native to the region, the in-migration of middle-class midwestern and Bible Belt conservatives after World War II provided fodder. So, too, did the explosive growth of high-tech defense industries with resulting "strong emphasis on private development and growth with little regard for public and community spaces" (p. 40). Conservative groups and evangelical churches provided Orange Countians opportunities for filling this void with a message that was highly congenial to the thoroughly modernized, middle-class professional who embraced it. . . .

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