An incredibly detailed and often engaging history of the last 40-50 years or so. It's also strangely dispassionate. I suppose the author is trying to present things how they actually occurred, using the collection of vignettes and stories to make a point, but it was different that a lot of other non-fiction, where the point is much more overt. I also suppose that it's strange that I'm complaining about a book being subtle and understated in much of its commentary. There are probably a lot of people who would think that's a good thing.