The Fourth Turning

What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

By: William Strauss, Neil Howe

Narrated by: Tom Parks

Now available as an unabridged recording for the first time

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Discover the game-changing theory of the cycles of history and what past generations can teach us about living through times of upheaval—with deep insights into the roles that Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials have to play.

First comes a High, a period of confident expansion. Next comes an Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then comes an Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Last comes a Crisis—the Fourth Turning—when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history.

William Strauss and Neil Howe will change the way you see the world—and your place in it. With blazing originality, The Fourth Turning illuminates the past, explains the present, and reimagines the future. Most remarkably, it offers an utterly persuasive prophecy about how America’s past will predict what comes next.

Strauss and Howe base this vision on a provocative theory of American history. The authors look back five hundred years and uncover a distinct pattern: Modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life, each composed of four twenty-year eras—or “turnings”—that comprise history’s seasonal rhythm of growth, maturation, entropy, and rebirth. Illustrating this cycle through a brilliant analysis of the post-World War II period, The Fourth Turning offers bold predictions about how all of us can prepare, individually and collectively, for this rendezvous with destiny.

©2009 William Strauss and Neil Howe (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“I put down The Fourth Turning with a mixture of terror and excitement. . . . If Strauss and Howe are right, they will take their place among the great American prophets.”—David Kaiser, The Boston Globe

“One of the best efforts to give us an integrated vision of where we are going.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A startling vision of what the cycles of history predict for the future.”—USA Weekend

a 1997 book I'm reading in 2024 and it feels like the authors were time travellers.

There is no doubt in my mind after reading this book that I'm living in the 4th Turning....a MUST READ for history baby boomers

Fascinating

An amazing deep dive into the seasons of history that is both calming and disturbing at the same time.

Thought provoking

Thought provoking. IS this an insight into predestination? We now live at the end of the fourth turning. What were its defining events and stresses? The economic meltdown of 2007? The war in Afghanistan? The Ukraine war? The smartphone? Artificial intelligence?
Certainly there seems more fear of civil war in America than any time in living memory. There is even a movie about it. Perhaps that makes it less likely. IS Biden our gray eminence? Certainly he IS gray. IS he seen as pointing the way to a new future based on self sacrifice? History will judge that. IS artificial intelligence the stepping stone into a new future for our society? There is Michael being written now about limits to free will.

the cycle of history

I had to listen carefully so it wasn't an easy listen, but a very important one. I had the book already and could refer to the charts. excellent performance.

PROPHETIC EVEN IN 2024!

Even though this book was written in 1997, it did an excellent job in predicting what has happened in the 2000’s and 2020’s. The end of the Unraveling was forecasted in 2005, which would be the start of the Fourth Turning. Well he was only off by three years, because in the sequel to this book “ The Fourth Turning is Here”, The Fourth Turning ( The Crisis Period starts in 2008, which was the Financial crash!… He also mentions a world wide Pandemic which has already happened!.. Wow.

Required Reading/Listening.

What I found most astonishing about this book was the fact that it was written in 1997. How could you have predicted the Covid pandemic? He didn’t refer to it as a Covid pandemic but he predicts a pandemic. It is well worth your time to listen to this book.

The seasons. There is always a turning.

Thank you for your immensely thought provoking book. I find that the seasons passing and renewal are most inspiring. It is such a relief, in a way, from the burden of linear thinking and linear progress I’ve lived by most of my life.

Repetitive

I like the overall idea the book discusses. It's thoroughly explained ad nauseam in every chapter.

Author continually reiterates the same basic concept of their social theory; only they add additional examples in each chapter. Cliff Notes/Spark Notes will tell you everything you need to know. There's absolutely no reason this should be 19 hours worth of content.

Prophetic

Like a time capsule full of prophecies. A well laid out theory of history that rings more true now than ever.

The Overall Concept

The overall concept is fascinating. Can’t wait to ready the next book to see how the idea has evolved.