Twenty-five years ago, Neil Howe and the late William Strauss collaborated on a book titled The Fourth Turning about how history repeats itself. With this recent update, titled THE FOURTH TURNING IS HERE, Neil Howe again reviews the cyclical trends which he contends occur roughly every 80 years, naming them the High (featuring strengthened institutions); the Awakening, (push for change); the Unraveling, (strengthening individualism as decay sets in); and the Crisis, (value changes such as we may be experiencing now). His writing seems less optimistic than that of Robert Putnam (The Upswing) and in contrast to Peter Turchin (End Times) is more narrowly focused on the United States. Howe also fervently argues that "each generation will have its own common narrative, its own past memories, and its own future hopes," with elder Prophets, midlife Nomads, young-adult Heroes, and child Artists. While this contention parallels some analysis by Jean Twenge (Generations), Howe's work is much less accessible and is in direct contrast to Mauro F. Guillén's claims about the coming post-generational society in The Perennials. I believe that the average reader would find THE FOURTH TURNING IS HERE to be rather dry and difficult to parse at times; however, it did receive a starred review from Kirkus. Notes and Bibliography comprise roughly twenty-five percent of the text.

I was very excited to receive an ARC of this book in advance of publication. Reading it, however, was a chore. It was a re-hash of much of the prior book and had a huge political bias to it. Would have been nice if there had been some indication in the title or book description to indicate that this book would probably offend many readers. I couldn't finish reading it and originally decided to be kind and not leave a negative review, until this evening, when I looked the book up on Amazon, out of curiosity and realized I was not alone, at all, in my reaction to this book.

All I have to say is you NEED to read this book.

I read the Fourth Turning earlier this year (twice, because it was necessary) and have been FASCINATED with the idea ever since, so when I saw the sequel was up on NetGalley, you KNOW I jumped on it. And this sequel did not disappoint.

Broken up into three parts, Howe expands on his observations on the saeculum, adding more examples, contexts and history behind the concept. Then he gets to the present moment - The Millennial Crisis - of which we’re in the middle. It’s clear we’re moving towards a climax — what that is, no one is quite clear, but Howe tries to give some assurances of what will come during and after to help readers prepare. He talks more about how people have fared during a crisis, the national attitudes that are evoked, and the resiliency and idealism that happens afterward (think post WWII).

Overall, the constant message of, “this is what history requires” and “this is just how time works,” are extremely reassuring. This crisis is not something being done to our generation, but merely a happenstance of time, and the best thing we can do is prepare, build community and look to a brighter spring.

This book is a follow up to the author's 1997 book "The Fourth Turning". Howe is a historian and demographer that has co-developed a theory of generational change and cyclical history. He proposes that history tends to move in cycles that last 80 to 100 years that consist of four phases which are each the length of a generation of the population. We are currently in the fourth phase of the cycle, according to Howe. This phase corresponds to the previous fourth phases of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II. While the US is not officially at war, I think many of us would agree that the current society seems as if it is in a warlike setting.
Based on his theory, Howe states that the US will enter its "spring" or first phase in the early to mid 2030's. He says this time will be one where the "culture will be tamer, social conscience weaker and pressure to conform heavier". Personally, this is not something that I would look forward to.
His says this crisis period could be one of another world war or a type of civil war in the US. Neither of these is something I hope will happen. A third option is some sort of regeneracy of the country without a war.
It is evident to me that this author is much more liberal politically than I am. His theory of cycles of history has some merit, but as a Christian I believe that history has a beginning and an endpoint. I recommend this book for students of history and culture as some good "food for thought".
I received a complementary advanced copy via NetGalley from the publisher.
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This book is a fascinating follow-up to the 1997 generational theory book 'The Fourth Turning' and is hands down one of the best reads of the year. Howe provides an in-depth look into the various generations during the present Fourth Turning, their reactions, and how history tends to repeat itself concerning each generation's role in shaping the current and future state of affairs. By drawing cyclical parallels from hundreds of years ago to today's world, Howe offers a thought-provoking read, although it may be disconcerting at times. However, the author also provides some hope for the future by previewing the next First Turning and how our institutions can be reconstructed and revived. Overall, I highly recommend this book to everyone as it is relevant to all generations living today.