1948: The Crossroads Year by James F. Nagle is a fascinating exploration of how 1948 forever changed America-and why. The turning point in the struggle between Western democracy and Eastern absolutism as symbolized by the Soviet Union, 1948 changed the way the world worked and the way America thought. As the nation grappled with a post war environment, its people began to question their role in this new society and the path on which America now seemed headed. There was a huge migration of black people from the South. Easterners set their sights on the sunnier climes of California. Suddenly,...