The Golden Age is the seventh and final installment of Vidal's "American Empire" series—or "American Chronicles" as they are also called—which traces the United States' history from the Revolutionary War to the present. These novels trace various power centers and areas of interest within America in the twentieth century. The Golden Age actually resurrects the characters introduced in the book that started the "American Chronicles," Washington, D.C., which Vidal published in 1967. The Golden Age differs from its predecessor by focusing more on the historical figures that surround the fictional ones, rather than letting them slip into the background behind the inventive narrative. The other books in this epic series—Burr, Lincoln, 1876, Empire, and Hollywood,—all cover similar themes but different time periods, and each are quite thick with history, more so than his final novel of the series.

Vidal's...