John Jakes introduced the Crown siblings, Carl and Fritzi, and their cousin Paul to readers in his best-selling historical novel Homeland. Members of the second generation of the German-American Kroner family traced in Homeland, these youths leave the security of their privileged life in Chicago to follow their dreams and ambitions during the first two decades of the twentieth century, when tumultuous social, economic, and technological changes occur in America. This journey is traced in American Dreams Technological advances during the early and mid-twentieth century allowed for the production of cars, airplanes, cameras, the motion picture industry, and modern war weapons. At the same time, wealthy capitalists attempted to isolate themselves from social changes taking place in order to consolidate their power. However, despite their best efforts, technological innovations contributed to erosion of class barriers and provincialism. Another significant social movement that occurred in this time...