This book investigates the complex interplay between American medicine, psychiatry, and culture in the decades following World War II. Martin Halliwell traces the evolution of therapeutic practices and perceptions from the war's end through the 1960s, examining how national policies, public discourse, and cultural expressions like film and literature shaped understandings of health and illness. The study begins with the impact of WWII and the Cold War on mental health, progressing through the social shifts of the Eisenhower era and culminating in the critiques and alternative movements of the 1960s. Halliwell synthesizes the ideas of key postwar thinkers with analyses of cultural texts to argue that these therapeutic revolutions were driven by a tension between authority and liberation.

This scholarly work is recognized for its richly layered intellectual history, blending national politics and healthcare debates with cultural analyses of film and literature. It is noted for its comprehensive scope, covering the period from World War II to the 1970s and engaging with influential postwar thinkers. The book's central argument posits a close link between therapeutic revolutions and the discourses of authority and liberation.