SOURCE: Brinkley, Alan. “Victoria Revived.” Times Literary Supplement, no. 5051 (21 January 2000): 6.

In the following review, Brinkley observes that One Nation, Two Cultures is an important book for understanding the conservative perspective on problems facing American society. Brinkley concludes that, while Himmelfarb's arguments are intelligent and provocative, the book is historically short-sighted.

Gertrude Himmelfarb, a respected historian of Victorian Britain, has become better known in recent years as an energetic conservative critic of modern American culture. Until now, she has directed her discontent mostly at her own profession. In a series of controversial articles and books, she has denounced the way in which modern historians have turned away from their traditional (and she believes ennobling) concerns—politics, leaders, great public events—and towards what she considers the trivial and even tawdry minutiae of everyday life.

In One Nation, Two Cultures, she looks beyond the historical profession to American society as...