The New American Society is about contemporary bureaucracies, the changing economic foundations of these organizations, and the influence of such organizations on social class, life styles, and politics. American historians and social scientists will want to read it carefully. This volume is also of interest to psychoanalysts and psychiatrists, for the analyses found in its pages advance our understanding of the current social determinants of human character and pathology.

As the materials in this book are quite diverse and uneven, I will explicate and briefly discuss two portions of the text which are closely related to the concerns of the readers of this journal: first, the advent of a new American middle class and second, the effects of bureaucratic organization on contemporary lives.

Bensman and Vidich are well known for their detailed empirical study of the impact of large-scale American institutions and culture on