This book presents a moderately revisionist history of the great books idea anchored in the following movements and struggles: fighting anti-intellectualism, advocating for the liberal arts, distributing cultural capital, and promoting a public philosophy, anchored in mid-century liberalism, that fostered a shared civic culture.

Tim Lacy has a PhD in American History from Loyola University Chicago, USA, where he is currently employed. He has taught history at Monmouth College, USA, and several Chicago-area colleges and universities.

1. The Great Books Movement, 1920-1948 2. Building Britannica's Great Books of the Western World, 1943-1952 3. Making 'Seventy-Four CorpsesPay Off': The Context and Commerce of the Great Books, 1952-1968 4. 'Mixing Vice and Virtue': Adler, Britannica's Cottage Industry, and Mid-century Anxiety 5. The Common Sense of Great Books Liberalism, 1965-1970 6. Diminished Dreams: Great Books in an Age of Crisis, Fracture, and Transition, 1968-1977 7. 'The Poobah of Popularizers': Paideia, Pluralism, and the Culture Wars, 1978-1988 8. 'The Most Rancorous Cultural War': Bloom, Adler, Stanford, and Britannica, 1988-2001