Gary Gerstle provides a sweeping history of how neoliberalism came to dominate American politics from the 1970s through the 2010s, reshaping both major parties around the principles of free markets, deregulation, and individual responsibility. He traces neoliberalism's rise from fringe economic theory to governing philosophy, showing how thinkers like Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek influenced politicians from Reagan to Clinton. Gerstle argues that neoliberalism succeeded not just through policy but by transforming common sense about government, markets, and personal responsibility. He examines how Democrats abandoned New Deal liberalism and embraced market solutions, how Republicans made peace with globalization and immigration, and how both parties converged on a consensus that seemed unshakeable until the 2008 financial crisis. The book traces neoliberalism's decline through the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and the election of Donald Trump, who represented a repudiation of free-market orthodoxy on the right. Gerstle shows how the neoliberal order crumbled from both left and right, challenged by progressives like Bernie Sanders and nationalists like Trump who rejected its core premises. The book provides essential context for understanding contemporary political realignment, showing how a half-century of economic ideology shaped the world we now seek to change.