Did America's fortieth president lead a conservative counterrevolution that left liberalism gasping for air? The answer, for both his admirers and his detractors, is often "yes." In Morning in America, Gil Troy argues that the Great Communicator was also the Great Conciliator. His pioneering and lively reassessment of Ronald Reagan's legacy takes us through the 1980s in ten year-by-year chapters, integrating the story of the Reagan presidency with stories of the decade's cultural icons and watershed moments-from personalities to popular television shows. One such watershed moment was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. With the trauma of Vietnam fading, the triumph of America's 1983 invasion of tiny Grenada still fresh, and a reviving economy, Americans geared up for a festival of international harmony that-spurred on by an entertainment-focused news media, corporate sponsors, and the President himself-became a celebration of the good old U.S.A. At the Games' opening, Reagan presided over a thousand-voice choir, a 750-member marching band, and a 90,000-strong teary-eyed audience singing "America the Beautiful!" while waving thousands of flags. Reagan emerges more as happy warrior than angry ideologue, as a big-picture man better at setting America's mood than implementing his program. With a vigorous Democratic opposition, Reagan's own affability, and other limiting factors, the eighties were less counterrevolutionary than many believe. Many sixties' innovations went mainstream, from civil rights to feminism. Reagan fostered a political culture centered on individualism and consumption-finding common ground between the right and the left. Written with verve, Morning in America is both a major new look at one of America's most influential modern-day presidents and the definitive story of a decade that continues to shape our times.

The American landscape as viewed through the lens of an outsider.

"Sharp, snarky and slick, Visaggio gives us a clever rewind to an unfolding mystery set in the early 80s." –– CHUCK WENDIG It's 1983, and when mysterious monsters start overtaking a small town in Ohio, it's up to a teenage girl gang to save the day in this new story for fans of Paper Girls and Stranger Things. Created by powerhouse team Magdalene Visaggio (Eternity Girl) and Claudia Aguirre (Kim & Kim), Morning in America follows the Sick Sisters, a group of friends and small-time delinquents who may be the only people standing between their suffocatingly small town and complete apocalyptic destruction. The Sisters know there's something wrong in Tucker, Ohio—and they also know that the authorities aren't doing anything about it. When the girls take the investigation into their own hands, they run into wild conspiracy theories, abandoned homes... and something that screeches in the night. At the end of the world, four girls with bikes and baseball bats are there to stand in the way.

Did America's fortieth president lead a conservative counterrevolution that left liberalism gasping for air? The answer, for both his admirers and his detractors, is often "yes." In Morning in America, Gil Troy argues that the Great Communicator was also the Great Conciliator. His pioneering and lively reassessment of Ronald Reagan's legacy takes us through the 1980s in ten year-by-year chapters, integrating the story of the Reagan presidency with stories of the decade's cultural icons and watershed moments-from personalities to popular television shows. One such watershed moment was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. With the trauma of Vietnam fading, the triumph of America's 1983 invasion of tiny Grenada still fresh, and a reviving economy, Americans geared up for a festival of international harmony that-spurred on by an entertainment-focused news media, corporate sponsors, and the President himself-became a celebration of the good old U.S.A. At the Games' opening, Reagan presided over a thousand-voice choir, a 750-member marching band, and a 90,000-strong teary-eyed audience singing "America the Beautiful!" while waving thousands of flags. Reagan emerges more as happy warrior than angry ideologue, as a big-picture man better at setting America's mood than implementing his program. With a vigorous Democratic opposition, Reagan's own affability, and other limiting factors, the eighties were less counterrevolutionary than many believe. Many sixties' innovations went mainstream, from civil rights to feminism. Reagan fostered a political culture centered on individualism and consumption-finding common ground between the right and the left. Written with verve, Morning in America is both a major new look at one of America's most influential modern-day presidents and the definitive story of a decade that continues to shape our times.

"When Dave Garroway welcomed viewers to Today on that day in 1952, he ushered in a new era in broadcasting. . . . It was a place where viewers could turn to each morning to satisfy their appetite for all things news and information. It was a destination for the curious to learn more about what had happened overnight and how the day ahead might shape up. And they would see and hear it all from the best storytellers in broadcasting." -- from the foreword Throughout the history of television there has been nothing quite like NBC's Today. Ever since the brilliant and innovative TV network executive Pat Weaver conceived the idea of broadcasting a "national newspaper of the air," Today has chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of our times through personalities that viewers have trusted and admired. With dozens of never-before-published photographs, From Yesterday to TODAY offers an insightful and entertaining history of America's favorite morning show from its experimental beginnings with Dave Garroway and a chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs to its enduring success in the 21st century with co-anchors Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. Through personal recollections from Today family members such as Barbara Walters, Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Bryant Gumbel, Katie Couric, Willard Scott, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Meredith Vieira, and Ann Curry From Yesterday to TODAY will take you on the unique journey traveled by those who reported the news, reflected on cultural trends and provided comfort to a nation of viewers often before they have had that first cup of coffee. For more than sixty years, Today has delivered the public their first glimpse at the new ideas, political leaders, and social upheaval that shaped our lives. It has remained a constant in a dynamic medium that evolved from grainy black-and-white images to the computer screen. It has reminded us of the joy of living and why it is worth getting up each day.

CNN correspondent Brian Stelter reveals the dark side of morning television with exclusive material about current and past morning stars, from Matt Lauer to Katie Couric. When America wakes up with personable and charming hosts like Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, it's hard to imagine their show bookers having to guard a guest's hotel room all night to prevent rival shows from poaching. But that is just a glimpse of the intense reality revealed in this gripping look into the most competitive time slot in television. Featuring exclusive content about all the major players of the 2000s, Top of the Morning illuminates what it takes to win the AM -- when every single viewer counts, tons of jobs are on the line, and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Stelter is behind the scenes as Ann Curry replaces Meredith Vieira on the Today show, only to be fired a year later in a fiasco that made national headlines. He's backstage as Good Morning America launches an attack to dethrone Today and end the longest consecutive winning streak in morning television history. And he's there as Roberts is diagnosed with a crippling disease -- on what should be the happiest day of her career. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and discover the dark side of the sun. Praise for Top of the Morning "Mr. Stelter pulls back the curtains and exposes a savage corporate world that might have been inhabited by the Sopranos." -- Washington Times "A troubling look inside an enterprise as vicious and internecine as a soap opera." -- Kirkus Reviews