© Columbia University Press
The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of his Conversion to Conservatism
Paper, 320 pages, 6 photographs
ISBN: 978-0-231-13861-1
$19.50
/ £11.50
January, 2007
Cloth, 320 pages, 6 photographs
ISBN: 978-0-231-13860-4
$40.00
/ £23.50
"An elegant history of Reagan's 'studies' with General Electric." — John H. Fund, The Wall Street Journal
"A revelation... Definitely worth reading for those who want to know how Ronald Reagan evolved into the 'Great Communicator' of political yore." — A.G. Gancarski, The Washington Times
"[The Education of Ronald Reagan] fills a hole in Reagan's biography." — Daniel Oppenheimer, Sacramento News and Review
"Evans's book is essential reading... a reasoned exploration of the shaping of an extraordinary political career." — Joseph C. Goulden, Washington Lawyer
"This fascinating study sheds new light on Reagan's ideological evolution." — Publishers Weekly
"The Education of Ronald Reagan admirably fills... [a] gap... One of the most illuminating books ever written about Reagan." — Jacob Heilbrunn, National Interest
"[The Education of Ronald Reagan]provides fresh revelations on Reagan’s ideological development... a ‘must’ for any college level collection." — The Midwest Book Review
"Evans is undoubtedly correct to home in on the G.E. years as the key period in Reagan’s self education." — Steven F. Hayward, Claremont Review of Books
"Evans provides useful insight into Reagan’s GE years and calls attention to the influence of Boulware. " — Emilie Raymond, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"A better companion to [The Reagan Diaries]. . . . By focusing on the decade or so when Reagan was a traveling spokesman for General Electric-a period that he began as a Democrat and ended as a Republican-Evans does a persuasive job of explaining where Reagan's political views came from." — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker
"The first satisfying account of how Reagan evolved into a conservative." — Rick Perlstein, author of Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus
"A persuasive explanation for a major gap in the Reagan 'mythology.'" — Michael Flamm, Ohio Wesleyan University
"Tom Evans was present at the creation of great candidacies, and his book offers a fresh, valuable account of what made Reagan Reagan." — William Safire, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
"This work confronts directly the everlasting question about why Ronald Reagan shifted so abruptly from Hollywood liberal and union leader to General Electric spokesman and anti-union activist. I know of no work that explains that transition and its implication for conservative leadership in America more effectively. In short, a major contribution to Reagan scholarship and presidency analysis." — James MacGregor Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
"Thomas Evans commendably helps to fill an important gap in the fascinating story of how Ronald Reagan went from movie actor to President of the United States by focusing on the eight years in the 1950s that he spent traveling America's byways for General Electric. " — Stephen Hess, Distinguished Research Professor of Media & Public Affairs, The George Washington University
"This remarkable book opens hitherto closed doors and windows into Ronald Reagan's early years. It is a fascinating, often riveting read." — Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers' War: FDR and the War Within World War II