The Lonely Crowd isconsidered by many to be the most influential book of the twentieth century. Its now-classic analysis of the new middle class in terms of inner-directed and other-directed social character opened exciting new dimensions in our understanding of the psychological, political, and economic problems that confront the individual in contemporary American society. The 1969 abridged and revised edition of the book is now reissued with a new foreword by Todd Gitlin that explains why the book is still relevant to our own era. As accessible as it is acute, The Lonely Crowd isindispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand American society. After half a century, this book has lost none of its capacity to make sense of how we live. -Todd Gitlin Praise for the earlier editions: One of the most penetrating and comprehensive views of the twentieth-century urban American you're likely to find. -Commonweal Brilliant and original. -Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.