A social and political history describes how mass consumption and the pursuit of prosperity transformed American life during the second half of the twentieth century.

Prologue -- Part I : Origins of the postwar consumers' republic -- Depression : rise of the citizen consumer ; War : citizen consumers do battle on the home front -- Part II : Birth of the consumers' republic -- Reconversion : the emergence of the consumers' republic ; Rebellion : forcing open the doors of public accommodations -- Part III : Landscape of mass consumption -- Residence : inequality in mass suburbia ; Commerce : reconfiguring community marketplaces -- Part IV : Political culture of mass consumption -- Culture : segmenting the mass ; Politics : purchasers politicized -- Epilogue.