

Thanks for visiting. This website provides an overview and introduction to my work as a U.S. cultural historian. My major works include Born in the USA: Bruce Springsteen and the American Tradition (HarperCollins, 1997), The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation (Oxford University Press, 2003), and Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and Historical Visions (Oxford, 2013). My essays and reviews have been published in the Washington Post, USA Today, Rolling Stone, and the American Historical Review, among other periodicals. My latest book, 1980: American Culture in Transition, is now available; you can listen to a podcast about it here. My next book, “Bridge & Tunnel Boys: Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and the Metropolitan Sound of the Twenty-First Century,” is slated for publication in late 2023. For more information, see the other pages on this site or visit my author page on Amazon.com. –JC