Now off-duty after teaching nearly a quarter century (history, City U. of New York) Himmelfarb describes a divide through the US that cuts across the usual divisions of class, race, ethnicity, politics, and sex. One side, she says, follows the traditional idea of republican virtue, and the other emerged from the counter-culture of the 1960s and has become the dominant culture of today. She has hope however, and recommends democratic remedies. She only indexes names. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)