Mo.: Andrews McMeel, 2005. The encyclopedia
contains thousands of entries regarding televi-
sion, gadgets, fads, and music of the 1980’s.
Rettenmund, Matthew.Totally Awesome 80’s: A Lexi-
con of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Stars, and
Trends of That Decadent Decade. New York: St. Mar-
tin’s Griffin, 1996. This work is more of a listing
than an analysis, as Rettenmund provides a list of
the best in each category included in his title. He
also discusses the changing vocabulary and other
trends, along with the popular culture figures of
the period.
Wills, Gary.Under God: Religion and American Poli-
tics. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990. Wills ar-
gues that America has always been a Christian na-
tion and that the election of 1988 reflected this
fact. He covers a wide variety of topics in this
book, moving from the Scopes trial through the
1980’s. While acknowledging the importance of
religion, Wills also holds that the separation of
church and state is good for both the state and the
church.
- Homosexuality
Rutledge, Leigh.The Gay Decades: From Stonewall to the
Present.New York: Plume, 1992. As the title sug-
gests, this book covers gay history in the United
States from the 1969 Stonewall riot until the late
1980’s. Rutledge goes beyond simply focusing on
gays and lesbians to also discuss public figures
and others who have shaped gay culture. As the
author admits, this work focuses more on gay
men than on lesbians.
Shawyer, Lois.And the Flag Was Still There: Straight Peo-
ple, Gay People, and Sexuality in the U.S. Militar y.
New York: Haworth Press, 1995. Although Ameri-
can homosexuals argued for greater civil rights in
the 1980’s and obtained some changes in the
1990’s, the issue of gays in the military remains
unresolved. Shawyer examines the issue, arguing
that the United States should drop its ban on ho-
mosexuals in the military. Shawyer played a signif-
icant role in persuading Canada to drop its ban,
and she brings that experience to bear in her
book.
Scott A. Merriman
1160 Bibliography The Eighties in America