title: American Political History: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
author:  Donald T. Critchlow 
description: <br /><strong>Donald T. Critchlow </strong>is Professor of History at Arizona State University. He is the author of <em>When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Moguls, Film Stars, and Big Business Remade American Politics</em> to be published by Cambridge University Press. In addition, he has authored and edited many other books including <em>The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Made Political History</em> (Harvard, 2007; revised 2011, Kansas); <em>Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism</em> (Princeton, 2005; paper 2007); and <em>Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government</em> (Oxford, 1999, pap. 2001). He is currently working on a book <em>American Democracy Now and Its Future</em>, a data-driven book. He is editor of the <em>Journal of Policy History</em>, an interdisciplinary quarterly published by Cambridge University Press.<br />
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # ALSO BY JULIAN E. ZELIZER
  
  
  
  
  
  _Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974_
  
  
  (coauthor with Kevin M. Kruse)
  
  
  _The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the
  Great Society_
  
  
  _Governing America: The Revival of Political History_
  
  
  _Jimmy Carter_
  
  
  _Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981–1989_
  
  
  (coauthor with Meg Jacobs)
  
  
  _Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security—from World War II to
  the War on Terrorism_
  
  
  _On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences,
  1948–2000_
  
  
  _Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945–1975_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Book title, Burning Down the House, Subtitle, Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a
  Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party, author, Julian E. Zelizer,
  imprint, Penguin Press](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  PENGUIN PRESS
  
  
  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
  
  
  [penguinrandomhouse.com](http://www.pengu