Then comes an Unraveling, an increasingly troubled era in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Next comes an Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion against the now-established order. The authors look back five hundred years and uncover a distinct pattern: Modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life, each composed of four eras-or “turnings”-that last about twenty years and that always arrive in the same order. In The Fourth Turning, the authors illustrate these cycles using a brilliant analysis of the post-World War II period.įirst comes a High, a period of confident expansion as a new order takes root after the old has been swept away. Strauss and Howe base this vision on a provocative theory of American history. Most remarkably, it offers an utterly persuasive prophecy about how America’s past will predict its future.
William Strauss and Neil Howe will change the way you see the world-and your place in it. With blazing originality, The Fourth Turning illuminates the past, explains the present, and reimagines the future. The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe