Promotional Information

Ron Formisano dons a pair of fine historical lenses to read the tea leaves of the reactionary populism that has become an undeniable political force in 21st-century America. This is a lucid and intelligently constructed primer on the coalition of Americans longing and lobbying for (far too) simple answers to complicated questions. He gets it just right. -- Ellen Goodman

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introductions
1. Reading Tea Leaves
Astroturf or Grassroots Populism?
Parties, Anti-Parties, and Populism
2. The Rise of the Tea Party
The Search for the Rosa Parks Moment
Media and Money
3. Political Payoff in the 2010 Midterm Elections
Tea Party Ascendant
Evangelicals and the Tea Party
4. The Tea Party and the Religious Right
Constitutional and Biblical Fundamentalism
The Christian Right and Machismo
5. The Tea Party and Big Business
Libertarian Fundamentalism versus Christian Fundamentalism
Developing Strains in the Alliance
Frustration with Politics as Usual
Immediate Precursors of Tea Party Rebellion
Libertarianism with Benefits
7. The Tea Party and American Political Culture
Predictions and Assessments
The Roots of the Tea Party's Grassroots
Postscript
Notes
Index

About the Author

Ronald P. Formisano is the William T. Bryan Chair of American History at the University of Kentucky. His most recent book is For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s.

Reviews

Formisano merits attention for providing even-handed perspective on and clarifying misconceptions about America's recent political phenomenon... The author makes valuable clarifications: the Tea Party and the religious right are not synonymous, and there are factional disputes... His most trenchant observation might have emerged from a Pirandello play: 'Its partisans and critics alike, as if reading tea leaves, often see in it what they wish to see.' within. Publishers Weekly Formisano examines the conditions that gave birth to the Tea Party and whether it is genuinely grassroots or directed by corporate interests and billionaires. A helpful primer on a movement that is changing the American political landscape. -- Vanessa Bush Booklist Written in a brisk, journalistic fashion, this informative book is an excellent snapshot of the Tea Party as it seeks to make further inroads in the political arena. Library Journal Formisano is a highly respected authority on the history of populist movements. In an evenhanded way he writes of the origins of the Tea Party or Tea Parties (there are many competing factions), in resentments against so-called 'elites,' and various alliances and rejections at the grass roots. Lexington Herald-Leader One of the most orderly presentations of this recent history I have read... Take a few hours in the waning days of summer to read The Tea Party: A Brief History so that you can explain to your students why the Paul Ryan candidacy is history in the making. -- Claire Potter Tenured Radical, Chronicle of Higher Education A fine and easy introduction to a brand new party and its concepts, recommended for any general collection strong in American history and politics. Midwest Book Review A succinct but enlightening history of the Tea Party in the US. Choice Formisano offers more than a mere primer to the Tea Party's history, In addition to looking behind the movement's founding myths, he establishes interesting links between Christian conservatives' biblical fundamentalism and the constitutional originalism espoused by many Tea Partiers. -- Claudia Franziska Bruehwiler Political Studies Review