The American Dream - home ownership, doing better than your parents' generation did, from rags to riches, the pursuit of happiness. In The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation Jim Cullen explores the famous notion that was coined by James Truslow Adams in The Epic of America in 1931. Starting with the Puritans, Cullen goes on by discussing the role of the Declaration of Independence, the concept of upward mobility, the struggle towards equality, home ownership and the frontier.

I found this short volume quite helpful in deepening my understanding of the development of the American Dream. There is so much talk nowadays that the American Dream is changing, that it is withering, fading away, even dying or already dead. To my mind, however, that is too simple. One should understand that the concept of a 'dream' can never offer guarantees and that the American Dream cannot be achieved without effort. While it once meant tomake it in life through hard work and against all odds, people nowadays tend to think that the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' means that you can just wait for success to happen, your career to unfold and for wealth to come to you. The American Dream is changing, yes. But it has to. You won't be able to claim 160 acres of land anymore (as you could under the Homestead Act in 1862), you are not very likely to move to California to dig for gold and become rich. However, there is so much more to the American Dream than wealth or material possessions. I found The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation a very intelligent book that helps (re-)understand the concept and the background of the American Dream. 4 stars. ( )