HYDE PARK — Hyde Park author Rick Perlstein will celebrate the release of his newest book diving into the history of conservative political leaders at the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore on Tuesday.
Perlstein will celebrate the publication of “The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan” at 6 p.m. at the bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave.
The book chronicles of the changes in the Republican party from 1973-76, particularly the rise of Ronald Reagan. It is the third book by Perlstein, a liberal who writes a column for The Nation, on the evolution of the conservative movement from the 1960s into the 1970s.
“Invisible Bridge” charts a loss of innocence in America after the Watergate scandal and the end of the Vietnam War. Perlstein show how Reagan’s personality was perfectly suited to speak to an anxious nation.
The event brings Perlstein into the shadow of Reagan’s legacy in Chicago. Reagan lived briefly as a child in an apartment in Hyde Park. The reading will take place across the street from the University of Chicago’s economic research institute named for Milton Friedman, the former Reagan economic advisor most closely associated with shaping the “Reaganomics” policies.
Perlstein’s previous books include “Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus” and “Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America.”
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
