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This book examines what Putnam believes was the downfall of civic participation or civic health throughout the 20th century in America. In order to prove his points, he uses a truckload of data to illustrate what he believes was the slow but steady decline in American community participation over the century. At the same time, he uses discussions of the makeup of communities in order to transform the numbers into something personal.

He first talks about how people get involved in their communities, whether it be by meeting people in church, people collecting in organizations, people getting involved in local politics. He discusses what kind of person is more likely to be a "joiner" (my words, not his). He also breaks down what he thinks is responsible for neighbors being more distant than in years previous.

Through the whole book he’s using the numbers to hint at the fact that, at one point, America hit a peak of civic participation (it seems as though be believes this may have been in the 1960s), but then began to degrade. In fact, much of the author's language reflects that grander opinion; this book turns a change in social behavior through the 20th century into an alarmist warning signal that we may all cease talking to each other unless something drastic is done. He may as well have just written, "Mayday! Mayday!" for the book's 500 page duration.

The use of language that is normally reserved for the wipe-out of species off the face of the planet is extreme and unnecessary in this context. It suggests a trend of decay with an not-so-subtle threat of extinction and one can catch a whiff of "well, back in MY day..." Mr. Putnam, when precisely can we expect the World Wildlife Fund report about the extinction status of our communities? It's been 20 years and it has yet to hit my desk.

This is one of those books that was very important at the time and gives later readers of the book an idea of what communities looked like at the end of the last century. In fact, I'd argue that it's immensely interesting looking back at a world largely untouched by the internet to get a sense of where we all started before we were all connected at the tap of a finger.

But it's precisely the fact that the internet now exists that shatters the fears that make up this book. As I stated above, all I observed through his data was that American society was changing throughout the 20th century - and why wouldn't it? Coming out of WWII, the nation was becoming increasingly productive. Women went to work and stayed there. People began having smaller families. Things gradually began getting more expensive. Perhaps the drifting away from the Kiwanis Club isn't because people stopped caring, but because they had so many more things to occupy their time.

But right as this book was being published, the internet exploded onto the scene and now all of us are more connected than ever before. Maybe all the time burdens we all faced back in the 20th century and still do face in the 21st made us even more eager for a way to more easily connect with friends and strangers alike. But to read Putnam's book in a world where Zoom calls, multiplayer gaming, endless discussion forums, YouTube communities (and endless other examples) exist, it was hard not to chuckle at his alarmist view. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 (in 2020, heh) and we now have data that he didn't, but his decision to see change as degradation was certainly a uh...choice.

Like Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, this book was meaningful in a moment in time and may be valuable for anyone who wants to take it on as a window into said period of time, but as the data isn't all that relevant for the modern reader, this one is best read as a summary.