The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy and Caste in America

By Edward Digby Baltzell

Book Overview

This classic account of the traditional upper class in America traces its origins, lifestyles, and political and social attitudes from the time of Theodore Roosevelt to that of John F. Kennedy. Sociologist E. Digby Baltzell describes the problems of exclusion and prejudice within the community of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (or WASPs, an acronym he coined) and predicts with amazing accuracy what will happen when this inbred group is forced to share privilege and power with talented members of minority groups. "The book may actually hold more interest today than when it was first published. New generations of readers can resonate all the more to this masterly and beautifully written work that provides sociological understanding of its engrossing subject."--Robert K. Merton, Columbia University "The documentation and illustration in the book make it valuable as social history, quite apart from any theoretical hypothesis. As such, it sketches the rise of the WASP penchant for country clubs, patriotic societies and genealogy. It traces the history of anti-Semitism in America. It describes the intellectual conflict between Social Darwinism and the environmental social science founded half a century ago by men like John Dewey, Charles A. Beard, Thorstein Veblen, Franz Boas and Frederick Jackson Turner. In short, The Protestant Establishment is a wide-ranging, intelligent and provocative book."--Alvin Toffler, New York Times Book Review "The Protestant Establishment has many virtues that lift it above the level we have come to expect in works of contemporary social and cultural analysis. It is clearly and convincingly written."--H. Stuart Hughes, New York Review of Books "What makes Baltzell's analysis of the evolution of the American elite superior to the accounts of earlier writers . . . is that he exposes the connections between high social status and political and economic power."--Dennis H. Wrong, Commentary

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300038186
• ISBN13: 9780300038187
• Release Date: September 1987
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Provocative Work on US Class Origins and Structure

This classic work should be read in tandem with its update written about 30 years later. Few analysts are as qualified as Baltzell to write about the American class structure and how it has changed over the volatile years of the late 20th century. The original work was almost the only text avalable to serious sociology students of social differentiation at the time it was written in the 1960's and it is still the best work on class origins' effects on social values in this country, even today.

A landmark that endures - readable and full of insight

This is a serious analysis of class in America. If you are interested in understanding America and how it got that way, The Protestant Establishment should be on your reading list. Baltzell coined the term WASP, and broke new ground in other, more important ways in this book.Baltzell is a very astute observer with a talent for a phrase, so the book is very readable. It's not particularly dated in style or content. However, it is a lengthy, serious study.Though originally published in 1964, the insights endure to today. (Perhaps because the class structure endures.) Those interested in sociology, culture or an informed understanding of history or society will enjoy this book.In summary ... "The book may actually hold more interest today than when it was first published. New generations of readers can resonate all the more to this masterly and beautifully written work that provides sociological understanding of its engrossing subject"--Robert K. Merton, Columbia University