Writing for H-Net, a forum for scholars in the humanities and social sciences, David Stebenne said it "describes McCarthy's life and work with outstanding grace and clarity", and was "a very fine study of a significant figure that serious students of American postwar history will want to consult.

It was described as a "rich treasure chest of a book" by Anthony Howard in The Daily Telegraph, who wrote of his "respect for the sweep and scope of the author's knowledge".

[14][15] Richard Gott was more sparing in his praise: "Sandbrook does his best, but he lacks the literary talent to cover such a wide canvas and keep the reader awake.

[18] James Buchan observed, "For all the charm of Dominic Sandbrook's book, with its minute anatomy of social forms and brilliant parade of charlatans and fools, it is hard not to feel that somehow time has not been well used.

Charles Shaar Murray, writing in The Independent, called Sandbrook "the Hoodie Historian" and imagined him "slouching into shot while throwing whatever passes for gang signs in the history department of the University of Sheffield, and announcing to Arthur Marwick, Jonathon Green et al. that 'You is all mi bitches nuh.

'"[20] Sandbrook continued the history of postwar Britain with State of Emergency (2010), covering the period 1970–74,[21] and Seasons in the Sun, which took the story up to the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1979.

"[23] For The Sunday Times, Piers Brendon said it was "a rich mixture of political narrative and social reportage ... scholarly, accessible, well written, witty and incisive.

"[24] In 2011, before he had finished his book series about Britain, Sandbrook published Mad as Hell about American populism in the 1970s, discussing cultural influences such as disco, the Ford and Carter presidencies, Bruce Springsteen, and the Dallas Cowboys.