“Drawing on extensive research, this engaging book promises to be the definitive account of how the bicentennial celebrations were planned, enacted, and protested both in Philadelphia and at large. Stein does a superb job of weaving together the national and the local stories and of bringing to life the activism and agency of African Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and women—groups that often found themselves at odds with, ambivalent about, or organizing radical alternatives to the officially sanctioned events and commemorations. With themes that resonate with our current political moment, Bicentennial is an original, insightful, and important contribution.”

Simon Hall, School of History, University of Leeds, author of "Three Revolutions: Russia, China, Cuba and the Epic Journeys That Changed the World"

“This ambitious book is so needed—at a moment when the cultural and political divides Stein details offer both lessons from the past and key strategies for navigating our ever-changing national landscape as we approach the semiquincentennial. In Stein’s eloquent hands, the 1970s become not a period of fragmentation and loss (though there is some), of siloing of activists, but rather a decade that bore witness to broad coalitions that included, for the first time, LGBTQ+ individuals/groups and their goals and the emergence of what today we would term ‘intersectional’ approaches. He has crafted here a history of city planning and urban development alongside a meticulously detailed and persuasive analysis of the ways in which local, state, and national politics and politicians framed the bicentennial. It is a richly layered, powerful book.”

Leisa Meyer, American Studies Program, College of William and Mary, author of "Creating GI Jane: Sexuality and Power in the Women’s Army Corps During World War II"